Kandhamal riots: 10 get 5-year RI

PHULBANI (ORISSA): A fast

track court here today sentenced 10 people to rigorous imprisonment for

five years for involvement in violent incidents during communal riots in

Kandhamal district in 2008. Additional sessions judge Sovan Kumar Das, while convicting them, also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 each. According to prosecution, the convicts were involved in torching of

houses and rioting in village Dalagaon under Tikabali police station in

September, 2008 during the communal violence in the sensitive

tribal-dominated district. Kandhamal had witnessed large scale

violence in the aftermath of the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda

Saraswati in August, 2008.