Bhubaneswar, Nov 18 (IANS) Nine people were Wednesday convicted and each sentenced to four years in jail by a fast track court in Orissa for their role in a case of arson during the Kandhamal violence in 2008.
Five people, including a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, were acquitted by the fast track court in Kandhamal.

“Nine people have been convicted and five have been acquitted in the case. They were accused of torching the house of Ratha Nayak of Mlahupanga village under Raikia Police Station area in Kandhamal district on Aug 27, 2008. The acquitted includes Manoj Pradhan, the legislator from G Udayagiri in Kandhamal,” said public prosecutor P.K. Patra.

Fast track court-II judge Chittaranjan Das sentenced the nine to four years of rigorous imprisonment and a Rs.3,500 fine each.

The five were acquitted for want of evidence against them, Patra said.

While Pradhan has already been acquitted in five cases during the riots, nine cases are still pending against him.

Kandhamal district, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread violence after the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram on Aug 23 last year.

More than 25,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs, who held Christians responsible for Saraswati’s killing although police blamed the Maoists.

The government has set up two fast-track courts to try cases related to the communal violence