PTI 

BHUBANESWAR, Oct 19: A close aide of the slain VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati was on Sunday arrested in Kandhamal, the police said. 

Madhu Baba against whom a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was pending for a long time was arrested near Jaleshpeta Ashram in Tumudibandh police station in communally fragile Kandhamal district.

"Based on the court warrant, Madhu Baba was arrested. It has nothing to do with last year's communal violence", Superintendent of Police, Prabin Kumar told PTI over phone.

Though Madhu Baba was close to Saraswati and staying at Jaleshpeta Ashram, he was not a member of VHP, said VHP state secretary Gouri Prasad Rath.

Madhu Baba who was present at Jaleshpeta Ashram when unknown gunmen killed Saraswati on August 23, 2008, had filed FIR at Tumudibandh police station after the killing.

The crime branch of Orissa police was now investigating Saraswati murder case on the basis of Madhu Baba's FIR.