Bhubaneswar, April 12: Twenty days after he was abducted from near a village in Koraput district, the whereabouts of ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka remain unknown.

The Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of the Maoists, which claimed responsibility for his kidnapping, has steadfastly refused to nominate mediators for negotiating his release with the Odisha government.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, however, renewed his appeal to the kidnappers of the legislator to release him unharmed.

“I appeal to the Maoists to set the young MLA free without harming him,” he said today even as he welcomed the release from captivity of Italian tour operator Paolo Bosusco.

An appeal for the release of Hikaka, the MLA from Laxmpiur, was also made by Subhashree Das alias Milli Panda, wife of rebel chief Sabyasachi Panda, who had abducted the Italian.

“I saw joy on the face of Paolo after being released today. The family of the MLA will feel similarly happy if he, too, is set free. I appeal to his abductors not to hold him captive any more,” said Subhashree, who walked out of Gunpur jail on Tuesday after being acquitted in an encounter case.

Anxiety among the family members of the legislator has been mounting as his captors have sought the release of 30 Maoists and rebel-backed Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS) leaders from jail. These include a top rebel commander, Chhenda Bhushnam alias Ghasi, who has cases against his name both in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The government of Andhra Pradesh has declared a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.

The demands of his captors were contained in a letter released to the media by AOBSZC member Jagbandhu, who also lambasted BJD leaders from undivided Koraput district for following “anti-people policies”.

He alleged that BJD MP from Koraput Jairam Pangi and the party MLAs from Koraput and Jeypore, Raghuram Padal and Rabinarayan Nanda, were responsible for the repression of the poor and underprivileged tribal people of the area.

“They, instead of the Maoists, should be put on the government’s most-wanted list,” said Jagbandhu in his letter written in Telugu.

However, Padal denied the allegations and said the ruling party leaders of the area were public representatives working hard for the uplift of the poor and the oppressed.

The stalemate in the Hikaka case has left the MLA’s wife in despair.

“Things appear to have become all the more difficult following the letter in which they have demanded the release of 30 persons. I only hope they do not harm my husband,” said Kaushalya.

In a related development, a special squad of the Odisha police today seized a huge amount of explosives, including gelatin sticks and detonators, from a private vehicle near Muniguda in Rayagada district.