BJP MLA gets 7 years in prison

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A fast-track court on Tuesday sentenced BJP MLA Manoj Pradhan to seven years in jail in a murder case during the 2008 Kandhamal riot case.
Judge Shovan Kumar Das of fast-track court-I found him guilty in the murder of one Parikshita Digal, a minority community tribal resident of Baradanda village under Raikia police station during the riots.

Pradhan, who represents the sensitive G. Udayagiri Assembly segment in the state legislature, was also slapped a fine of Rs 6,500.
The legislator faced more than a dozen cases of murder and arson during the Kandhamal riots that followed the killings of Hindu seer and VHP leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and four of his aides at his Jalespeta ashram on August 23, 2008.
On November 18, 2009, the BJP legislator was acquitted in an arson case.
The 35-year-old BJP MLA has five more cases, including four murder charges, pending against him.
Kandhamal, about 200 km from Bhubaneswar, witnessed widespread violence after the murder of Laxmananand. More than 25,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes when their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs.
Reacting to the court verdict, Pradhan said, “I respect the judgment. However, I will appeal against the verdict in the Orissa high court.”
Despite much hue and cry, the BJP had given ticket to Pradhan in the last Assembly polls. He won the polls defeating his nearest rival candidate by a huge margin of 24,000 votes.
On July 5, 2009, Pradhan, was released from jail after he got interim bail to take oath as an MLA.