Bhubaneswar, May 24: The three interlocutors, who had facilitated the release of the then Malkangiri collector R. Vineel Krishna on February 24, today set a new deadline for the state government to withdraw nine cases involving the 168 tribals by the end of June this year.

They also asked the government to swiftly initiate steps for release of the Ghanti Prasad and four others, Gananath Patra and other tribals who are lodged in different jails in the state.

During their two-hour long meeting with chief minister Naveen Patnaik here, the interlocutors — G. Hargopal, Varavara Rao and Dandapani Mohanty — expressed anguish on the failure of the government to honour the commitments made by it.

The government should immediately stop its anti-Maoist operation in the state. It should try to build up a conducive atmosphere so that scale of violence is minimised. All coercive actions against tribals on the plea of anti-Naxal operations must end immediately, they told mediapersons.

However, Naveen said: “The Maoists must stop violence. We have agreed to initiate action for the withdrawal of cases involving 168 tribals. Nearly 55 minor cases are also being withdrawn. It has been the state’s policy to withdraw minor cases against tribals. Over the years, we have withdrawn thousands of petty cases against them.”

Naveen said a committee has been constituted under Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) administration to look into the land related cases involving tribal people.

After the meeting, Hargopal said: “The government should honour the commitment made to them for the release of the collector. All actions should be taken within a certain time frame. The government has assured us to solve nine important cases involving the tribals.”

He claimed that the government has agreed to take up the cases of 78-year-old Gananath Patra, who is now in jail. “We have also asked the government to form a special legislation to protect tribal lands. Neither the government nor non-tribal people should be allowed to take their land,” Haragopal said.

On the issue of ceasefire, Varavara Rao said: “We have appealed to the government to stop the operation. If the state does not indulge in violence, the Maoists will not resort to any sort of violence.”

Dandapani Mohanty said they had also raised the issue of police atrocities in the Naryanapatna area in Koraput district.

After collector Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi were kidnapped by the Maoists on February 16, the state government appointed home secretary U.N. Behera and panchayati raj secretary S.N. Tripathy to negotiate. On behalf of the government, the interlocutors were Hargopal, R. Someswar Rao and Dandapani Mohanty. Following the negotiations, the collector was released.