Orissa government to negotiate with Maoists
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa government will be sending two mediators to negotiate the release of Malkangiri district collector R. V. Krishna and junior engineer Pavitra Majhi with the Maoists on Saturday night, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“Prof Someswar Rao and Prof Hargopal (both from Andhra Pradesh) will reach Bubaneshwar today … then we will start discussions on the demands made by the Maoists,” Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said in a statement in the state assembly.
The mediators were handpicked by the Maoists.
Patnaik said the government has requested the Maoists not to harm the abducted officials and has also stopped anti-Naxal combing operations across Orissa.
Meanwhile, Patnaik held a high-level meeting with Chief Secretary B K Patnaik, Home Secretary U N Behera and others.
“As per the information available with us, the two abducted persons are safe and in good health in the captivity of the Maoists,” B K Patnaik told reporters after the meeting.
Earlier the day, the Maoists in Orissa holding in captivity Krishna Majhi extended the deadline of the release.
The Maoists took this decision after responding to the calls of the government for negotiations.
Media reports said that it was a senior member of Andhra-Orissa Border Zonal Committee (AOBZC) of Maoists who told a section of the media in the state capital on Friday about their plans of extending the deadline.
The Maoists have abducted Krishna along with Majhi while he was returning home at Gumma block with an ultimatum for withdrawal of central para-military forces in Orissa.
This was first such kidnapping of an IAS official in Orissa.
The Maoists have been demanding withdrawal of Central forces and release of their jailed leaders.
The 30-year-old government officer along with a junior official went to Chitrakonda area, a Maoist bastion, some 90 kms from Kalkangiri headquarters, for some work related to local development programmes.
The Maoists, however, let go free another junior engineer, with a hand-written note giving an ultimatum of 48 hours to fulfil them demands for the release of the Collector.
