By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : A court in Orissa Monday sentenced six people to four-year jail terms each for their involvement in communal violence in Kandhamal district last year.
Additional Sessions Judge Sobhan Kumar Das of a fast-track court at Phulbani in kandhamal district sentenced Kiringa Kanhar, Lasia Kanhar, Gananath Kanhar, Lankeswar Kanhar, Naresh Kanhar and Gorekh Pradhan to four years of rigorous imprisonment each.
“The court has also fined them Rs.2,000 each. If they fail to pay the fine, they will have to undergo another three months of rigorous imprisonment,” special public prosecutor Bijoy Krishna Pattnaik told IANS.
Police had charged 11 people, all residents of Tambasuga village, for burning the houses of Ladada Kanhar and his two sons in the same village Sep 23 last year.
The court, however, acquitted five people for lack of evidence. This was the second conviction by the court in riot cases.
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 Aug 23.
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.