Bhubaneswar, April 11: Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda today released a fresh audio tape, which raised hopes of Italian tour operator Paolo Bosusco’s release. But, the rebel faction, holding BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka, appeared to harden its stance.
Panda in his latest audio message said that while he was yet to receive the joint statement issued by the state government and the Maoist-chosen interlocutors, he had come to know from reliable sources that the state had made its stand clear on his 13 demands.
“We had asked for the release of seven people. The government has agreed to facilitate the release of five. That is a welcome step,” said the rebel leader. He, however, said Bosusco’s release could have become easier had the government acted on all his demands, which must have found reflection in the joint statement.
The hopes of the Italian national’s release rose further as Sabyasachi’s wife Subhashree Panda, who walked out of Gunpur jail yesterday, said she was ready to mediate to secure the release of the Italian and the BJD MLA if both the government and the Maoists made an offer.
However, Sabyasachi, in his statement, lambasted the state police, accusing it of killing poor people after branding them as Maoists.
“The gangrape of Arati Majhi by the policemen is an instance of police atrocities against the poor,” he said, adding that the Odisha police associations’ statement, objecting to the release of Maoist leaders from jail, was ridiculous.
On the other hand, Jagbandhu, the representative of Andhra-Odisha border zonal committee of the Maoists, which abducted Hikaka on March 24, in a letter, warned the state government that the MLA would not be released unless all the persons, whose release the committee is seeking, were freed. These include Chhenda Bhushnam alias Ghasi, who is wanted in over 60 cases in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Slamming the state government adopting a dilatory tactics on the demand of the Maoists, Jagbandhu warned that the authorities would only jeopardise the chances of the MLA’s release if they tried to act smart. He said that in the event of any such thing happening the fate of the MLA would be decided in the Praja court, the kangaroo court of the rebels.
The release of Jagbandhu’s letter coincided with a dharna at Balipeta village near Narayanpatna by the relatives and family members of the rebel-backed Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh activists languishing in the jails of Koraput and Malkangiri district.
Balipeta, which is part of Narayanpatna block in Koraput district, a stronghold of the sangh, is the place where the Maoists yesterday had promised to swap the MLA with the prisoners whose release they have been demanding.
They had asked Hikaka’s wife, Kaushalya, to come to the village accompanied by the two Maoist-chosen mediators and a lawyer, along with the detainees the rebels want to trade for the lawmaker. However, no such exchange took place at the village.
The state government, which renewed its appeal to the Maoists for release of the two hostages, today decided to provide land to the landless tribals at 17,974 villages under 118 blocks falling in the tribal sub-plan area of the state consisting of 19 districts.
The scheme would be implemented in seven districts — Gajpati, Nabrangpur, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Kandhmal — during the current financial year. The landless families and the land to be distributed among them would be identified by appointing community resource persons from the local communities. Most of the tribal sub-plan districts are affected by Maoist activities with the rebels whipping up popular sentiments against the government by taking advantage of the uneven distribution of land in these areas.
