Orissa collector Vineel Krishna freed by Maoists

Bhubasneswar : After nine days of captivity, Malkangiri district collector R Vineel Krishna was set free finally on Thursday evening by the Maoists, ending a hostage crisis that forced the government to agree for a swap deal.

The released government official was unharmed and he looked composed.

The other official, a junior engineer, was released on Tuesday night.

Maoists, who were reportedly not happy with the mediators, handed over Krishna to media on Thursday.

Krishna, for whom there was a groundswell of support by the tribals of the region for his developmental work was released in the forests before a “people’s court” at Jantapai.

The area is 90 km from Malkangiri, the district headquarters where the collector lives.

He was released before the TV channels who were invited by the rebels for the coverage.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the governemnt made certain commitments to secure the release but did not bow before the rebels completely.

Earlier in the day, Maoists had set fresh demands to free the collector.

Hours after releasing junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi on Wednesday, the Maoists said they want their five jailed leaders be released immediately in lieu of safe return of the collector.

Majhi was released after the Naveen Patnaik government conceded almost 14 demands of the rebels including release of their some incarcerated leaders.

The new demands were made in a letter sent through Majhi, who returned home on Wednesday evening. Among those leaders is Ganti Prasad, who was arrested in November and charged with sedition.

Prasad’s release topped the Maoists’ demand. The Maoists also wanted Padma, wife of a top leader, to be released. These demands came in addition to other demands that had earlier been put before the Orissa government.

The Maoists had said they need Prasad and four others to be escorted to Malkangiri in exchange for collector Krishna.

Earlier, the Maoists chosen mediators had said that Krishna would also be released by Wednesday, but then the rebels wanted their leaders to be handed over to them in Malkangiri.

The mediators, including Professor G Haragopal, said the fresh demands were not acceptable to them at this juncture.

Haragopal said the new demands would complicate the matters.

Another mediator D Mohanty said the rebels wanted the presence of the mediators at Malkangiri district, which was not possible and appealed to the Maoists to release as per agreement.

The Maoists finally did.

The collector was supposed to be released on Tuesday itself along with the junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi.

Majhi was released at Chitrakonda area from where he and the IAS officer were abducted on Feb 16.