The Orissa government said on Monday that religious conversion was one of the factors behind the unrest in tribal-dominated Kandhamal district and promised to change the state's law relating to religious freedom.

"Religious conversion is certainly an issue in Kandhamal. We will deeply study the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act and make changes where required," state Home Secretary T K Mishra said after a review meeting in Bhubhaneshwar.

Mishra indicated the government would like to take a middle path while working out startegies and implementing them to eradicate communal tension from minds of the local residents.