Bhubaneswar, Aug 28 - A fast track court in Orissa Friday acquitted a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator in a case related to last year's communal violence in Kandhamal district, a lawyer said.

Sobhan Kumar Das, the additional sessions judge at the court at Phulbani - the district headquarter of Kandhamal - acquitted BJP legislator Manoj Pradhan due to lack of evidence, Pradhan's lawyer R.K. Panda told IANS.

'Pradhan was accused of attacking and torching a house along with several others at Pisirama village (under Raikia police station) on Aug 27 last year,' Panda said. 'The court acquitted him, giving him benefit of doubt.'

Pradhan was arrested and jailed in October on several charges including murder, rioting and arson.