ORISSA, INDIA, October 3, 2013 (Daily Mail UK): An Orissa court on Thursday sentenced eight persons, including a Maoist leader, to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them for the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. The VHP leader and his four associates were killed at their ashram at Jaleshpata in Kandhamal district on August 23, 2008. On defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence, another awaits trial and four are still being sought, including top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda who was reportedly expelled from the CPI (Maoist) in 2012. The murder of the VHP leader and his associates had triggered violent communal clashes in Kandhmal in 2008. As many as 40 persons were killed and hundreds rendered homeless in the violence.
