New Delhi  - Suspected Maoist rebels gunned down a Hindu leader in the Kandhamal district of India's eastern Orissa state that saw weeks of bloody Hindu-Christian riots in 2008, news reports said Thursday.

A group of 15 to 20 armed Maoists killed Prabhat Panigrahi Wednesday night in Rudiguma village of communally-sensitive Kandhamal, about 200 kilometres west of state capital Bhubaneshwar, IANS news agency reported, citing police.

Panigrahi was a local leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu hardline organization.

Kandhamal district saw weeks of violence that claimed more than 30 lives after the killing of another Hindu leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, in August 2008.

Scores of churches and Christian houses were set on fire in the district in violent protests by Hindu groups and clashes between Hindu and Christian villagers.

Panigrahi was arrested for alleged involvement in the riots but was released on bail Saturday.

Kandhamal district police chief S Praveen Kumar said police were finding it difficult to reach Rudiguma because the rebels had felled trees to block all approaches.

Saraswati, a leader of another radical Hindu organization, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Council, and four of his aides were killed by unidentified gunmen in August.

The police suspect Maoist rebels of being responsible for that incident as well.

Saraswati had been leading a campaign against conversion to Christianity in the area.

Kandhamal district, home to some 600,000 people, is among India's poorest.

A majority of the population is tribal. Many of them have converted to Christianity over the past few decades. Christian missionaries are active in the region promoting healthcare and education.

About 25 per cent of Kandhamal's population is Christian compared to the 2.3-per-cent national figure.

Organizations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have accused Christian missionaries and aid workers of luring the poor tribal people to convert by promising them material assistance.

Communally sensitive areas of Orissa, like Kandhamal, have seen several clashes between Hindus and Christians in the past.

In one of the worst such incidents, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons were burned alive in 1999 by a fanatical Hindu mob that set their car on fire in Keonjhar district. (dpa)