Bhubaneswar, Aug 27: Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued in eight places in Kandhmal district of Orissa in the wake of Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) protest against the killing of its leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati.

Curfew continues in Kandhmal.

The death toll from the violence in the state has risen to nine and the situation is threatening to spiral out of control with mobs seeking revenge for the killings of the VHP leader and four of his disciples.

Thousands of people in communally-sensitive Kandhmal district moved into forests for safety.

At least four people were killed in a clash between members of Hindu and Christian communities at Barakhama village in Kandhmal on Tuesday.

New Delhi  - Curfew was clamped in Kandhamal district of India's eastern state of Orissa on Tuesday as police put the death toll at five in violence by Hindu right-wing activists who vandalized and set fire to Christian churches and church property in the area.

Activists of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its affiliate Bajrang Dal attacked churches, torched vehicles and stopped rail and road traffic across the state Monday. They called the strike to protest the weekend killing of their leader in a campaign against religious conversion.

Bhunaneswar, Aug 26: After imposing curfew in Orissa''s volatile Kandhamal district, the police and the paramilitary forces held flag marches in troubled towns on Tuesday following violent protests during Monday’s state-wide shutdown call by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to protest against the killing of its leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four others.

Bhubaneswar, Aug 25 : The 12-hour shutdown called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad affected normal life in Orissa, but, remained by and large peaceful.

Enforcing the statewide shutdown in protest against the killing of VHP leader Swami Lakshmanananda and four of his disciples, activists of the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and other Hindu outfits took to the streets blocking all national and state highways in almost all parts of the state since morning bringing vehicular traffic to a halt.

The implementation of various measures which were announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik six months ago, have not been implemented till now and thus has agitated doctors working in public hospitals in Orissa. That is why; approximately 3000 doctors have decided to protest against the delay of the implementation of rules by following a mass resignation on August 27.

Bhubaneswar, Aug 25: A high-alert has been sounded across Orissa and additional security forces have been deployed in view of the Vishawa Hindu Parishad (VHP)’s 12-hour dawn-to-dusk state-wide shutdown today against the killing of a senior VHP functionary on Saturday night.

Around 20 platoons of the state police and four companies of CRPF have been deployed following tense situation in the tribal dominated Kandhmal district where the VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and his four followers were killed by unidentified assailants.

Fearing communal violence, the district administration has imposed curfew in parts of the district, and announced closure of all schools, colleges and other academic institutions.