Police in Orissa’s Kandhamal district have come under fire for refusing to investigate the recent death of a pastor in Mediakia village.

They say Pastor Michael Nayak died in a road accident on July 27 and that local village head, Pramod Mallick, had reported that he had found the body and a motorbike lying by a road in the village.

However, Churchmen and the clergyman’s family say the police have done nothing to try and discover the exact cause of the pastor’s death and that it could well have been murder.

Kandhamal district was the center of unprecedented anti-Christian violence that lasted seven weeks in 2008, killing nearly 100 people and displacing thousands.

Christians say they are still being repressed despite government claims the area has returned to normality.

The pastor’s death is the second such incident in the state in which police have passed off the death of a clergyman as an accident, said Brother K.G. Markose, a lawyer.

Six months ago another pastor, Saul Pradhan, was found dead near a pond in Pakala. The police said he had drowned.

Markose, who is also handling the Pradhan case, said it took six months and a court order to get the police to take up the case.

Pastor Nayak’s elder brother, Surendra Nayak, is in no doubt his brother was murdered.

The body was found lying in a ditch with just a small wound below the ear. No other cuts or bruises were seen on the body, he said

Another brother, Daniel Nayak, said there was also very little damage to the motorbike.

A villager, Moha Nayak (no relation), has said that two Hindu friends of the pastor, who accepted a lift from him the day he died, have not been seen since the death.

Father Dibakar Parichha from Bhubaneswar diocese believes police reluctance to investigate the pastor’s death is part of a conspiracy.

“It is organized crime, the fanatics strike at regular intervals and local authorities try to cover it up. As long as this practice continues, the elimination of Christians will continue.”

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