Orissa Crime Branch arrested four more persons on Sunday in connection with the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram at Jaleshpata on Aug 23.

"Four persons were arrested on Sunday. Some more persons were also detained for questioning" state Inspector General of Police (Crime Branch) Arun Kumar Ray said.

The arrests came just a day before the VHP's ultimatum to the Orissa Govt. to arrest the killers of Swamiji.

The saffron organization has threatened to shut down the state if the culprits were not arrested before 15 December 2008.

Police arrested those four including a hard core Naxalites from the Kotagada area of the tribal dominated district Kandhamal.

Orissa Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal resigned on Wednesday evening in the wake of a controversy generated by his alleged involvement in a sex scandal.

Mr. Samal, who has been under pressure from various quarters for the past several days, met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence and handed over his resignation letter.

The CM has accepted his resignation and forwarded it to the Governor, said Govt. soures.

A Congress MLA was suspended from the Orissa Assembly for seven days for allegedly throwing a headphone towards the Speaker on Thursday.

Speaker Kishore Mohanty suspended legislator from Koraput Tara Prasad Bahinipati for seven days when the Government Chief Whip Bikram Keshari Arukh moved a resolution in this regard.

Though the Speaker asked Bahinipati to leave the House, the Congress MLA refused to do the same.

A police man was seriously injured when Maoists exploded a landmine near a police outpost in Orissa's Rayagada district early Thursday.

Bhubaneshwar, Dec. 11 : Orissa's Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, Manmohan Samal , has resigned following disclosures of his involvement in a sex scandal.