Bhubaneswar, Jan. 25: The Daitari-Paradip expressway blockade at Kalinga Nagar could be called off in the next 24 hours with the government facilitating the release of a tribal leader.

Rabindra Jarika, an activist of the Visthapan Virodhi Manch, was arrested last October while he was coming out of a meeting organised by the All-India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha in Bhubaneswar.

The tribal youth has since been lodged in the Jajpur sub-jail on various charges, including extortion of truck drivers on the expressway.

Yesterday, the tribals had stipulated Jarika?s release as one of the several pre-conditions for lifting the road blockade that has affected the transportation of minerals to Paradip port and caused inconvenience to the public.

Additional district judge of the Jajpur fast-track court Ghanashyam Panigrahi granted bail to Jarika this afternoon raising hopes for an early solution. The youth is likely to be released later this evening or tomorrow.

?I hope they lift the blockade soon and make things easier for chief minister Naveen Patnaik?s visit (to Kalinga Nagar),? said Jajpur collector Arabinda Padhee, who held a marathon meeting with the tribals led by Chakradhara Haiburu.