Paolo Bosusco

Bhubaneswar, March 31: As suspense on the fate of the two hostages being held by the Maoists continued, talks between the state government and the rebel-chosen mediators remained stuck in a limbo.

The mediators, Jan Adhikar Manch convener Dandapani Mohanty and forest rights activist B.D. Sharma, were critical of the state government for dragging its feet over the Maoists’ demands. “The ball is in their court. We have been waiting here for too long,” said Mohanty, reiterating his appeal to the rebels to release Italian tour operator Paolo Bosusco, who was taken captive by the rebels on March 14.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the state government was in touch with the Union home ministry on the crisis. “Our chief secretary has been communicating with the Union home secretary on the issue. However, everything discussed cannot be disclosed,” he said.

Naveen’s statement came close on the heels of Union home minister P. Chidambaram stating in Delhi that his ministry was in touch with Odisha government but the latter had not sought any specific assistance except sharing of intelligence, which was being done on a daily basis. As for action on the ground by the security forces, he said a decision in this regard was to be taken by the state government.

While the 58-year-old Italian is being held in the forests of Kandhamal by the rebels, headed by CPI (Maoist) state organising committee secretary Sabyasachi Panda, the Biju Janata Dal MLA, Jhina Hikaka, was kidnapped by the Srikakulam-Koraput divisional committee of the Maoists.

Mohanty described the delay in the government’s response to the Maoists’ demands as unfortunate. “We have placed everything before the government but the whole thing is being unnecessarily delayed,” he said, adding that an early solution to the crisis could have been found had politicians, instead of bureaucrats, been involved in the talk process.

Home secretary U.N. Behera admitted that the talks were yet to resume as the government was examining the demands the rebels had put before it through their negotiators.

There was no response by the Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangha to the government’s invitation for talks to secure the release of Hikaka.