Bhubaneswar, April 4: The Odisha government today decided to take steps for the release of 27 persons, including eight Maoists, 15 members of the Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS) and four others, in keeping with the demands of the rebels holding an Italian tour operator and a ruling party MLA hostage.
The CMAS, which is leading a land movement in Narayanpatna area of Koraput district, is an organisation backed by the Maoists.
The announcement was made by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the Assembly with hardly 24 hours to go before the expiry of the April 5 deadline set by the Maoists for the government to fulfil their demands.
While the Maoist group headed by Sabyasachi Panda, the CPI (Maoist) state organising committee secretary, kidnapped Italian tour operator Paolo Bosusco on March 14, another faction of the rebels abducted ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka on March 24.
Reliable sources said that while Bosusco’s release from Maoist captivity now seemed more or less certain, there could be some more bargaining before the rebels set free Hikaka, the legislator from Laxmipur.
“Considering the safety of Sri Jhina Hikaka, the young tribal MLA from Laxmipur, it has been decided by the state government to facilitate the release of 15 members of the Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangha and eight Left wing extremists who are now lodged in jails of Koraput and Malkangiri,” said Naveen.
Reiterating his appeal to the rebels to release both hostages in good health, Naveen said: “It has also been decided to facilitate the release of four other persons from the list given by the mediators for the Maoists. The names of all these persons, both for the MLA and the Italian national, shall be announced tomorrow.”
The statement followed talks between the state government and the two Maoist-chosen mediators, Dandapani Mohanty and B.D. Sharma. In the Assembly, too, MLAs cutting across party lines, expressed concern over the fate of their abducted colleague. The Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution appealing to the Maoists to release the MLA safe and unhurt even as reports from Koraput said that Hikaka’s wife, Kaushalya, met the district collector seeking to know what steps the administration had taken for the release of her husband.
With developments taking place in the state capital at a fast pace, Naveen today decided to postpone his two-day visit to Chennai beginning tomorrow. He was supposed to lay the foundation stone for Odisha Bhavan in Chennai and meet Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa to discuss the National Counter Terrorism Centre issue.
Sources said chances for the release of CMAS advisor Gananath Patra and Subhashree Panda, wife of Sabyasachi Panda, appeared fair. Subhashree was produced at a local court in Gunpur today in connection with one of the cases pending against her.
Sources, however, said efforts were still being made to contact CMAS leader Nachika Linga to engage him in talks for the release of the MLA. However, the government’s request to Linga to act as an interlocutor was turned down by his lawyer Nihar Patnaik.
“He was never interested to act as a mediator,” said Naveen.
On the other hand, Patra today expressed his desire to act as a mediator for the release of the MLA while stating that he smelt a conspiracy behind the government’s offer to engage Linga in talks since he is on the run.
In another development, Dunna Keshav Rao alias Azad, a prominent Maoist leader who surrendered in Andhra Pradesh last year but was re-arrested by the Odisha police and is currently lodged in Jharpada jail, was handed over a cheque for Rs 10 lakh by a team of policemen from Andhra Pradesh. The cheque was handed over in Jharpada jail in keeping with the surrender policy of the Andhra Pradesh government.
