Contrary to the claim made by opposition Congress leaders, the Orissa police on Monday clarified that post-mortem had been conducted on the bodies of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and the four others gunned down by unidentified assassins on the night of August 23.

"A post-mortem was conducted according to the guidelines followed in any murder case," Director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

Nanda's clarification came after Congress leader Narasingha Mishra, also a lawyer, claimed that the police could not punish the culprits involved in the killing of Saraswati and others as the post-mortem was not carried out.

According to the DGP, the police had taken all steps to find those involved in the ghastly killing of Saraswati, which led to communal violence in some parts of the state.

There were at least five bullet wounds on Saraswati's body which was mutilated, sources said.

As the situation was highly volatile, the police took extra care to preserve Saraswati's body as doctors at Tumudibandha Government Hospital conducted the post-mortem, a senior officer said, adding the police is aware of the need to conduct post-mortem in murder cases.

Refusing to confirm whether Maoists were involved in the killing as earlier suspected, the DGP said the investigation was being carried out by "highly professional" officials to dig out details.