Bhubaneswar, April 20 (IANS) The Orissa High Court Wednesday asked the state government to file a report on its investigation into the 2008 killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Laxmanananda Saraswati in Kandhamal district, a lawyer said.

 
 Hearing a plea filed by Madhab Chaitanya, a disciple of the slain Hindu leader, the court at Cuttack, 26 km from here, directed the government to submit the report by May 4, petitioner's lawyer Sarbeswar Behera told IANS.
 
 Saraswati and four of his aides were killed by a group of unidentified assailants at his ashram at Jaleshpata Aug 23, 2008.
 
 Police filed a charge sheet against seven people in a local court in January 2009.
 
 Chaitanya filed the petition in the high court in the same year demanding an independent probe into the killing, Behera said.
 
 The killing of Saraswati triggered communal violence in Orissa in which at least 38 people were killed.
 
 More than 25,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs, who held Christians responsible for Saraswati’s killing although police blamed the Maoists.