54 people acquitted of charges in Kandhamal riots

A court in Odisha's Kandhamal district today acquitted 54 people who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2007 riots in the communally sensitive district.
Additional district and sessions judge, Phulbani, Rajendra Kumar Tosh, acquitted them them due to lack of proper evidence against them in the case.
The prosecution alleged that the arrested persons had allegedly set on fire an Odia Baptist church and 14 houses at Barkhama village in the district on December 25, the X-Mas Day, in 2007.
The district had experienced riots on the Christmas Day in 2007 and another such clash after the killing of senior VHP leader Swami Laxamanananda Saraswati in 2008. Two separate judicial commissions were now enquiring into the reasons behind the riots and measures to be adopted for preventing re-occurrence of such incidents in future.