Phulbani: Twenty-five persons allegedly involved in the Kandhamal communal riots in Odisha in 2008 were acquitted by a local court due to lack of proper evidence against them.

Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track) B N Mishra yesterday acquitted 25 persons who were booked on charges of rioting and arson. According to the prosecution, one Chitrasen Digal of Kakadabadi village had lodged a FIR with Daringbadi police alleging that some armed miscreants had torched some houses in his village including his own on September 28, 2008 during the Kandhmal riots.

Acting on the FIR, Daringbadi police had arrested one Sumant Digal and 24 others on the alleged charges, S Mohapatra Additional Public Prosecutor said.
The riots occurred in Kandhamal, a tribal-dominated district, in the aftermath of the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati at the Jalespata Ashram on August 23, 2008. Hindu groups in the state blamed Christians for killing Laxmanananda.