Cuttack, March 10 -- The Orissa High Court has acquitted Madan Kanhar, who was earlier convicted of killing a 20-year-old woman in 2005, citing lack of evidence.

Kanhar, a resident of Titrapanga village in Kandhamal district, was arrested on April 13, 2005, for allegedly attacking and killing the woman with an axe following a dispute. A case in this regard was registered at the Khajuripada police station.

A trial court in Phulbani found him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment on January 2, 2008. However, after spending 14 years behind bars, Kanhar was granted bail by the High Court on April 19, 2019.

He had filed a jail criminal appeal against the trial court's verdict on April 7, 2008.

"In the instant case, the discrepancie...