Bhubaneswar, Sep 22 - A fast-track court in Orissa Tuesday sentenced six people to three-year rigorous imprisonment for their role in the communal violence in Kandhamal last year, but acquitted five other accused.

'Six persons have been awarded rigorous punishment and Rs.4,000 fine,' said public prosecutor P.K. Patra.

The fast-track court in Kandhamal, about 200 km from here, was hearing a case relating to the torching of a house of a journalist named Ashok Kumar Ray in Phiringia village.

Kandhamal district witnessed widespread violence after the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram Aug 23, 2008.

More than 25,000 Christians fled their villages after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs, who held Christians responsible for Saraswati's killing although police blamed Maoists for the crime. The Maoists too later owned the responsibility for the killings of Saraswati and his four aides.

The government has set up two fast-track courts to try cases related to the communal violence.