Orissa: Maoist gets bail; Hostages still captive

Bhubaneswar, Feb 22: Amidst the third round of negotiation between the Orissa government and the handpicked interlocutors by the Maoists, a Naxal leader has been granted bail today (Feb 22). Citing the tremendous pressure over the abduction of the collector and a junior engineer, a Malkangiri fast track court has granted bail the Ultra leader, Sriramulu.

The Orissa Maoists abducted Malkangiri District Collector R Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi on Feb 17. Earlier, the rebels presented a list of demands with 14 points and the government had agreed to eight out of the 14 demands .

"The common goal is to diffuse the crisis as fast as possible," stated a jailed Naxal leader, Ganti Prasadam, who reportedly had a meeting with the interlocutors in the Bhubaneswar Jail today (Feb 22).

Prasadam asserted, "We aren't imposing any deadline. We want the release of our leaders and innocent tribal jailed in various prisons."

Sources reported that the two hostages are safe as they confirmed that, "The Maoists are shifting the duo from one village to another leaving even the locals clueless." The ultras have also assured that Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi would not be harmed as negotiations were underway.

OneIndia News