Bhubaneswar, April 6: Maoists holding Italian tour operator Paolo Bosusco today warned that they would be forced to take “extreme” steps unless all the conditions set by them were met and lambasted the state government for conceding to only part of their demands.

In an audio message sent by CPI(Maoist) Odisha state organising secretary Sabyasachi Panda to some media houses here, the rebels also set a fresh deadline till next Tuesday for their demands to be met.

Panda said the government had promised to release only three — Arati Majhi, Suka Nachika and Subhashree Das — of the seven persons he had named in exchange for Bosusco, who had been kidnapped on March 14.

He said the fourth person, Chakra Tadingi, named by the government was a stranger to him.

The rebel chief had earlier demanded the release of Kamalakant Sethi, his wife Sujata, Sudarshan Mandal and Gananath Patra apart from the three leaders mentioned above.

In the audio message released barely 24 hours after chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced that the government was willing to release 27 persons in exchange for the Italian and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhina Hikaka, who was kidnapped by another group of rebels, Panda described the negotiations with the government as a farce.

He also alleged that the kidnapping of the MLA was a conspiracy hatched by the state government to discredit him. While setting a fresh deadline of Tuesday for the government to fulfil his demands, which also include action against policemen accused of rape and fake encounters and lifting of the ban on some Naxal groups and “mass” organisations, Panda said he would be forced to take “extreme” steps if his demands were not met.

The rebel chief alleged that the ruling BJD had won the post of Koraput zila parishad president with the help of a pact with the rebel-backed Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS).

He also said that while the government had agreed to take steps for the release of Subhashree, Arati Majhi and Suka Nachika, brother of CMAS chief Nachika Linga, it was yet to ink an agreement with the mediators in this regard.

Panda, who gave another 96 hours to the state government to consider his demands, found it intriguing that the government was making repeated offers to the CPI (Maoist) Andhra-Odisha Special Border Zonal Committee for talks for the release of the MLA in spite of the fact that the former had made its reluctance obvious. On the other hand, the government did not appear keen on bringing the talks for the release of the Italian to a conclusion.

Chief secretary B.K. Patnaik, who has been constantly monitoring the situation on the hostage front, said the government was examining the audio tape sent by Panda and would decide its course of action after that.

On the other hand, Italian ambassador Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte met the chief secretary and discussed the situation on the hostage front. Talking to mediapersons later, he thanked the state government for trying its best to secure the release of Bosusco.

Reports from Koraput suggested that the release of the MLA could also be delayed in the wake of Panda’s aggressive posture. Besides, the rebel group holding him also wants more people to be released.

The state government had yesterday announced that it would facilitate the release of 27 persons in exchange for Bosusco and Hikaka. While 23 persons including eight Maoists and 15 members of CMAS were to be released in exchange for Hikaka, who was kidnapped on March 24, another four, including Subhashree Panda, were to be set free in exchange for Bosusco who has spent more than three weeks in captivity.