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Kandhamal violence spreads to Boudh district

Special Correspondent

BHUBANESWAR: As the Orissa government was busy containing violence in riot-hit Kandhamal, rioters attacked a village in neighbouring Boudh district and burnt down houses early on Thursday.

Initial reports indicated that about 15 houses were burnt down by the miscreants in Lansaripalli village in Kantamal block of Boudh during the early hours, according to a top police official.

The miscreants hailed from Gochhapada area of Kandhamal district. They had sneaked into Kantamal block of Boudh after police started arresting those involved in the communal violence which took place in the wake of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati, the official said.

Thursday’s was the third incident in Boudh district. More than 100 houses were burnt down in two separate attacks in the past few days.

According to police, the area where the rioters were attacking villages in Boudh was not accessible by road as the existing roads were badly damaged in the recent floods.

Inside Kandhamal, hundreds of people who indulged in attacks on Christians after the killing of the VHP leader on August 23 were hiding in forests to evade arrest, police sources said.

More than 16000 riot-affected people, belonging to the Christian community, are continuing to live in relief camps in Kandhamal. They were not returning to their villages fearing attacks on them if they refused to convert to Hinduism.

According to Swarupananda Patra, president of the Orissa Minority Forum, many people who had taken shelter in relief camps in Kandhamal had started leaving for Kerala, Gujarat and other States or had reached Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

On the other hand, the Orissa police have not been able to persuade the Catholic nun, who was raped at K. Nuagaon in Kandhamal on August 25, to participate in the judicial proceedings.

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