Maoist Leader D Kesaba Rao Acquitted in 2008 Kandhamal VHP Leader Murder Case
· India · Indian Express, The Hindu, Hindustan Times
A Special Court in Bhubaneswar acquitted Maoist leader D Kesaba Rao alias Azad of charges related to the 2008 assassination of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four disciples in Kandhamal district. The court ruled that suspicion cannot substitute proof and noted that the prosecution failed to establish the accused leader's identity and participation through reliable forensic or eyewitness evidence. Azad was subsequently released from Bhubaneswar’s Jharpada jail on Tuesday evening after spending years as an accused in the case. The 2008 killings at the Jalespeta ashram had triggered widespread communal violence across Odisha that resulted in 38 deaths and displaced over 25,000 people. The trial examined 22 witnesses, but the court emphasized the absence of recovered firearms, ballistic links, or independent eyewitness identification connecting Azad to the crime.
Why it matters
The acquittal closes a major chapter in one of Odisha's most sensitive communal conflict cases, underscoring the legal threshold for evidence in high-profile conspiracy trials.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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