NEW DELHI , India ( CNN ) -- A Maoist group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a Hindu leader , whose death sparked a wave of Hindu-Christian riots in southern India . Indian nuns protest against the recent violence which has seen Christians attacked . Sabyasachi Panda , the head of the Communist Party of India-Maoist , told reporters of two private television stations that his group was behind the Hindu leader 's death , the country 's national news agency said Sunday . The leader , Laxmananda Saraswati , preached the tenets of Hinduism to the tribal people of the state . And Panda said Maoists had earlier warned him to desist from `` such works '' or face consequences , PTI said . Panda said the Maoists killed Saraswati because he was `` spreading social unrest '' in the tribal area , the news agency said . The Indian government has consistently claimed the shooting death may have been the work of Maoist rebels . But hardline Hindu groups blamed the state 's Christian minority for Saraswati 's death . He and four others were killed in August when 20 to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and began shooting . Afterward , police arrested five Christians as suspects in the case . The hardliners held up the arrests as proof of Christian complicity . They took to the streets in anger , rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods , ransacking shops and torching houses . A Christian orphanage was set on fire . A 20-year-old woman , who was teaching children inside , burned to death . Christian resident fought back , and the clashes spread . The communal violence left churches and temples razed to the ground . More than 20 people died , and hundreds were arrested . Even after the Maoists ' claim of responsibility , some fundamentalist Hindu groups blamed Christians for the death . The hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad , or World Hindu Council rejected the claim saying the communist group -- known as 'Naxals ' -- did not have a religious agenda . `` Have the Maoists started fighting in the name of God now ? '' VHP leader Subansh Chauhan was quoted as saying by CNN-IBN , CNN 's sister network . The rebels , who claim to be fighting for the poor and the dispossessed , have been battling the government in an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of casualties since the late 1960s . Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called Naxalism India 's biggest security threat . Last year , more than 800 people were killed in Naxal-related violence across the country , according to local media reports . CNN 's Bharati Naik contributed to this report .
Maoist group claims responsibility for killing of Hindu leader . The Maoists have been fighting the Indian government since 1989. India 's PM has called the Maoists the country 's biggest security threat .