Rigorous imprisonment for 15 in Kandhamal riot case

A fast track court in Orissa today sentenced 15 people to rigorous imprisonment for three years for their involvement in rioting and house burning incidents during the Kandhamal riot in 2008.

Fast track court judge Sobhan Kumar Das convicting the 15 people of Gudrukia village in Baliguda also fined them Rs1,000 each.

The convicted were involved in rioting and setting fire to houses belonging to the minority community in the 2008 communal violence in Phulbani district.

A large scale violence had taken place in Kandhamal district after the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23 that year.