NEW DELHI, Oct 5: A Maoist leader has claimed responsibility for the death of a Hindu priest whose murder sparked savage anti-Christian riots in India, news reports said on Sunday.

Hardline Hindus had blamed Christians for the killing of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati, which led to widespread rioting and the death of at least 33 people in Hindu-Christian clashes in eastern Orissa state.

The Hindu leader had been associated with a radical group opposed to Hindus converting to Christianity. But the Maoists said they killed Saraswati because he was forcing tribal people to convert to Hinduism. “We ordered the death penalty for him,” Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda told reporters on Saturday.

Panda said his group had left letters at the killing in August claiming responsibility but that local authorities hid the evidence.

“They suppressed the evidence so that they could get an excuse to attack Christians,” Panda told the NDTV news network.

Hindu groups have attacked churches, prayer halls and homes of Christians in the state, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter in state-run refugee homes.

On Friday, the Orissa government said police had arrested four people for the alleged rape of a nun during the riots.

Hardline Hindu groups accuse Christian missionaries of bribing poor tribes people and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity by offering free education and health care. The attacks have been condemned by the Vatican and described as “a national shame” by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.—AFP