Krishna ready to continue in Malkangiri

Malkangiri (Orissa), Feb 25 (PTI) A day after his releasefrom Maoist captivity, Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishnatoday said gun wielding men and women were keeping a watch onhim round-the-clock but he was not tortured during hisnine-day captivity.

Asked by reporters here to narrate his experience inMaoist captivity, 30-year-old Krishna said, "I can neverforget that in my life" and made it clear that he was nottortured either physically or mentally.

"Only gun-weilding men and women were keeping watch on meround the clock," he said.

He said radio was the only means through which theMaoists could come to know about the world outside the jungle.

The district official said he and the junior engineer hadbeen kept in a cut-off area surrounded by dense forest andshifted them from one place to other at least four times.

They were providing him rice and dal and boiled water,Krishna said.

Asked whether he had written a letter immediately afterhis abduction at gun point, he replied in the negative. "I wassimply asked to write the letter," he said.

Krishna said the Maoists included Oriya, Telugu and somefrom Chattishgarh, but he could not recognise their leader.

Armed cadres used to stay at a distance keeping vigil outside.

To a question, he said he was ready to work in thedistrict if the state government allowed him to continue here.

"As long as people of the district and the governmentwant, I''ll continue," Krishna told reporters here.