|
Odisha hostage crisis: Maoists refuse to release Italian
Friday April 06, 2012 06:15:16 PM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
Hostage crisis: Maoist's wife, 26 others to be freed
Odisha
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday announced the names of 27
people whose release will facilitate the freeing of an Italian and
a legislator being held captive by Maoists.
Patnaik said the decision to facilitate
»
|
Bhubaneswar: Maoists Friday refused to release the Italian tour
operator Bosusco Paolo they have kept hostage in Odisha since
March 14 even though the government offered a swap.
Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, in an audio message which was
aired by some local television channels, described the talks the
government held with the Maoists-backed mediators as a "farce" and
said the Italian will not be released.
Criticizing the government for not signing any agreement with the
rebel-backed mediators on their demands, Panda also said his group
will take an "extreme step" if the government does not fulfil
their basic demands by Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, two mediators sought clarifications from the
Odisha government on its swap offer to secure the release of the
Italian and a state legislator from Maoist captivity.
The interlocutors sought the clarifications a day after Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik named 27 people, including Sabyasachi
Panda's wife, who would be swapped in exchange for the freedom of
the Italian and the legislator.
Dandapani Mohanty, one of the Maoist-backed mediators, said it was
not clear how the government was going to facilitate the release.
"We have asked them (officials representing the government).
"They said they will reply," Mohanty told reporters after holding
talks with three senior officials representing the government at
the state guest house here.
Mohanty also said the mediators don't have any information from
the Maoists on whether they would release the Italian hostage on
the basis of the chief minister's announcement.
"At this moment, we don't have any suggestions or objections. The
Maoists have to respond," he said.
The Maoists have held hostage Italian tour operator Bosusco Paolo
and Biju Janata Dal legislator Jhina Hikaka since March 14 and
March 24, respectively.
While the Italian was abducted by the Odisha unit of the Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) from Kandhamal district, the
legislator was kidnapped by the Andhra-Odisha border special zonal
committee from Koraput district.
Both the groups have been asking the government to fulfil 13
demands, including the release of several prisoners, who they
claimed are languishing in state jails on false charges.
Mohanty and tribal expert B.D. Sharma have been holding talks with
the government for the past several days to secure the release of
the Italian after the abductors announced their names.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
Zardari trip good but should fetch results: Analysts
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to India to pray at
the Sufi shrine at Ajmer Sharif is quite significant, said
analysts in Pakistan and India who hoped that it will lead to
»
Pakistan hopes Manmohan-Zardari talks will push peace
J-K parties hope Manmohan-Zardari talks will
help ease travel norms
PM to hold pre-lunch talks with Zardari, all
issues on table
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 'Assamese Muslims hounded and caught in
political illusion'
THE foreigners’ issue has been hanging as a
Damocles sword over the heads of Assamese since independence and
in its name thousands of genuine Assamese residents – Bengali
»
|
|
Indian-American linguist Dr. Jahangeer Warsi
wins US academic award
An Indian
American professor, Dr. Mohammad Jahangeer Warsi, has been
selected as a 2011-2012 recipient of the James E. McLeod Faculty
Recognition Award by the students of Washington University in St.
Louis, Missouri.
Previously called the Faculty Awards, this year the ArtSci Council
»
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 Selective representation of Hyderabadi history by Guha and Karat
When elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.
When two intellectual giants of India clash it is the facts that
take a beating. In their exchange
»
|
|
Peaceful revolt needed in Arab world: Tawakkol Karman
Yemenese
Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman Thursday said only a
peaceful revolution could finish authoritarian rule in the Arab
world. “Every dictator is a terrorist. Both feed on each other.
Only a peaceful
»
|
|
Women wear hijab in support of hate victim
One million
women worldwide have posted their pictures on Facebook wearing the hijab to show their support for an Iraqi immigrant in the US who
was brutally murdered.
Mother-of-five Shaima Alawadi was found beaten and
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
President Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil presenting the Padma
Bhushan Award to Shabana Azmi, at an Investiture Ceremony-II,
at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on April 04, 2012.
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links