BJP MLA gets 7-year RI for Kandhamal riots

Soon after the judgment,Pradhan was sent to a jail in Phulbani town of Kandhamal.

Pradhan said he would appeal before the Orissa High Court. I have the highest regard for the judiciary. I have faith in God, he told The Indian Express.

Thirty-six-year-old Pradhan is an MLA from G Udaygiri constituency that bore the brunt of the 2008 communal violence. Pradhan had 14 cases half of them murder lodged against him over his alleged link with riots in Kandhamal. The two-month-long riot,triggered by the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati,claimed 43 lives and witnessed burning of 4,600 houses and over 150 churches and prayer houses along with large-scale violence. Pradhan was also accused of setting on fire houses of people belonging to the minority community. He is still accused in five more riot cases,three of which are murder. He was arrested in October 2008 and fought the 2009 Assembly election from behind the bars.