Bhubaneswar, Feb. 9: The arrest of Jan Adhikar Manch convenor Dandapani Mohanty on Friday suggests that the state government has decided to go all out against Maoists and their sympathisers.

Mohanty, who is lodged in the R. Udayagiri jail, had played the role of a mediator between the government and the Maoists on two important occasions - when the rebels kidnapped a district collector and when two foreign nationals were abducted.

However, things took a turn for worse for him when his son, Sangram Mohanty was picked up by the police in December last year. Police claimed Sangram was nabbed while handing over some cash and a gun to a Maoist cadre.Hence, the arrest of Dandapani came as no major surprise though it has raised questions about the intentions of the police.

Many experts felt that police and the state used him when they needed him to resolve a crisis and struck against him when he had lost his utility for them.

Dandapani’s arrest has been condemned by rebel leader Sabyasachi Panda’s wife Milli Panda. She said it was an attempt to pressurise her husband. The arrest has also been denounced by several members of the civil society.