'Can't Convert Suspicion Into Proof': Maoist Leader Azad Acquitted In Murder Case After 15 Years In Jail

Bhubaneswar: Maoist leader Dunna Kesava Rao, alias Azad, was acquitted of all charges and released from Jharpada Special Jail on Tuesday due to lack of evidence against him.

A Special Court in Odisha on Tuesday acquitted Azad, the prime accused in the assassination of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and his four disciples in 2008, following which large-scale communal violence broke out in Kandhamal and other places of the state.

The 53-year-old man walked out of jail on Tuesday evening after the acquittal order.

With Tuesday's verdict, Azad has now been cleared in all 47 cases registered against him in Odisha, his lawyer Swaroop Kumar Pal said.

"In 2025, the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh governments filed affidavits detailing 48 cases against Azad. The Supreme Court later directed the respective governments to complete the trials within a year, following which the proceedings were expedited. Today, the Paralakhemundi Special Court acquitted Azad in 36 of these cases," Pal said.

Azad was imprisoned since 2011 after surrendering before the Andhra Pradesh Police and later being brought to Odisha on remand. "I am very happy about my freedom from jail. I thank all for the cooperation in my release," Azad told reporters in front of the jail at Jharpada in the city, PTI reported.

While acquitting Azad, Additional Sessions Judge of the Special Court, Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district, Satyanarayan Patra said, “These circumstances create a reasonable and substantial doubt as to whether D Keshava Rao was one of the persons who participated in the occurrence.”

“The doubt is not fanciful or remote; it arises directly from the prosecution evidence itself. It is a settled principle that where two views is reasonably possible on the evidence, the view favourable to the accused must prevail. The court cannot convert suspicion into proof merely because the offence is heinous,” the 40-page judgment read.

The court examined 22 witnesses, including the police and eyewitnesses, said special public prosecutor P Prasad Rao. Saraswati and his four associates, including a woman, were gunned down by a group of 20 masked people at his ashram at Jalespeta under Tumudibandha police station limits on August 23, 2008.

After committing the crime, they fled the ashram, leaving a letter written in Odia disclosing that the Maoists of Bansadhara division have executed the killing, said police. The letter was signed by one “Azad” in English with the heading as a press note.

The police registered an FIR into the matter after one of the disciples, Brahmachari Madab Chaitanya, lodged a complaint. The incident had triggered communal and ethnic violence in the tribal dominated district. After investigation, police had implicated Azad in the case, and a charge sheet was framed against him on July 17 last year.

The state government had set up the special court to hear cases against Azad on the direction of the Supreme Court. This is perhaps the first instance in the state when a separate court has been created solely to dispose of pending cases of one individual undertrial prisoner. At least 36 criminal cases were pending against Azad in Odisha when the special court was established. He was earlier acquitted in 11 other cases.

Apart from the killing of the VHP leader, Azad was also an accused in the case related to attacks on the Nayagarh police armoury in 2008 and R Udaygiri jail in 2006. In the Nayagarh armoury attack incident, at least 14 people, including 13 police personnel, were killed. He also has a murder case against him at the Tumudibandha police station in Kandhamal district.

Claiming innocence and seeking speedy trials of his cases, Azad had launched hunger strikes in jail several times, and in March, 2025, the Supreme Court directed the governments of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to consider setting up special courts for the faster disposal of Azad’s cases.

Azad was a member of the CPI(Maoist)’s Orissa State Organising Committee (ORSOC), and he had surrendered before the Andhra Pradesh police on May 18, 2011. He was handed over to the Odisha police on June 1 of the same year.

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