Six-year term for Orissa BJP MLA in Kandhamal riot case

BHUBANESWAR: BJP’s Ghumusar Udayagiri MLA Manoj Pradhan has been sentenced to six years imprisonment for murder during the Kandhamal riots.

The Phulbani Fast Track II judge Chittarranjan Das, who found Mr Pradhan guilty, imposed a penalty of Rs 15,000 on him. Non-payment of penalty will attract an additional prison term of 11 months. Mr Pradhan has been convicted under Section 147, 148, 427, 454 and 556 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the case diary, a mob led by the MLA, on August 25, 2008, attacked Bikram Naik at his Bedinaju residence, under Raikia police station. Naik, who was seriously injured in the attack, died two days later in a local hospital.
Reacting to the judgement, Mr Pradhan said, “I’m innocent. I will appeal against the judgement in the upper court.”

Defence counsel Chandra Sekhar Mishra said, “the court did not find my client involved in the murder of Bikram Naik. It only found that he was present in the scene. But it does not prove that he is involved in the crime. We are going to appeal against this judgement.”

At least 132 persons have so far been convicted in cases related to 2008 Kandhamal riots. Kandhamal plunged into turmoil after the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati by suspected Maoists on June 23, 2008. The communal riots that followed claimed at least 38 lives.