Ummid Assistant

Samsung sets up fund for poor kids' education

US varsity offers doctorate for education professionals

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » International

India informs Italy of efforts to release Italian hostages

Sunday March 18, 2012 07:39:15 PM, IANS

Related Articles

Two Italians abducted in Odisha, claim Maoists

Maoists Sunday claimed to have abducted two Italian tourists in Odisha, a local television channel report said. Police are verifying if the incident is true. The Maoists, in an audio message sent to a local reporter in the wee hours of Sunday, said the tourists were kidnapped at the  »

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: India Sunday informed Italy of the efforts being made by the Odisha government for early release of two Italian nationals who were taken hostage by Maoists as External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna spoke to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik about the evolving situation.

Patnaik informed Krishna of the ongoing efforts being made by his government for an early release of the abducted Italian nationals.

"Two Italians have been abducted by Maoists. It happened Saturday," Odisha Home Secretary U.N. Behera told reporters Sunday.

Maoists, in an audio message sent to the local media in the wee hours of Sunday, said the tourists were kidnapped at the border of Ganjam and communally sensitive Kandhamal district. They demanded that the government stop combing operations and fulfil their demands.

India was quick to get in touch with Italy over the incident which comes at a time when the ties between the two countries have come under stress due to the impasse over the killing of two Indian fishermen by two Italian marines off the Kerala coast over a month ago.

"India informs Italy of efforts being made by Odisha government for release of two kidnapped Italian nationals," Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, tweeted on the microblogging site.

"MEA is in contact with Italy to facilitate assistance through concerned Indian agencies in case involving 2 Italian tourists kidnapped in Odisha."

Italian Consul Joel Melchiori also met Behra and voiced concern. "We are concerned about abduction but hopeful of their release. We will issue advisory to our nationals not to venture into such dangerous areas."

Patnaik, who reviewed the situation with top police and administrative officials, has appealed to the Maoists to release the two Italians and hold a dialogue with the government.

Describing the abduction as unacceptable, Patnaik said the tourists should be released on humanitarian grounds. Patnaik is expected to hold another meeting of top officials later in the day to deal with the situation.

A Maoist calling himself Sabyasachi Panda said in the audio message, "We have imprisoned two Italian tourists." He said they would be released only after the government stopped anti-rebel operations and initiated dialogue with them.

"If the government wants to see them free, it should halt combing operations. We also want the government to fulfil a charter of 13 demands it had promised last year," he said.

Kandhamal district collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said the tourists were abducted from Daringbadi area of the district.

According to a local television channel report, both the tourists were men and were picked up by the rebels while roaming inside the forest, taking photographs of some tribal women.

Maoists are active in more than half of the state's 30 districts and the district of Kandhamal is considered a stronghold.








 

 


 

 

Home | Top of the Page

Comments

Note: By posting your comments here you agree to the terms and conditions of www.ummid.com

Comments powered by DISQUS

i

i

More Headlines

Stolen NATO army kits on sale in Pakistan!

Historic Opportunity For Akhilesh Yadav In Uttar-Pradesh

Indian call centres selling Britons' personal data: Report

Realty industry has little to cheer from budget

India's first guidelines for physiotherapists by 2014

More people Googling symptoms for self-diagnosis

Indian Americans are influential players in US media

Bosnian walks to Makkah for Hajj

Tata Steel, Wipro among world's most ethical: Survey

Yasin Malik wants to appear in Pakistan's Memogate probe

Fugitive Catholic priest arrested in Tamil Nadu

Two Italians abducted in Odisha, claim Maoists

Indian Muslims being misled, says Katju's substandard writer Rushdie

i

 

 

 

Top Stories

Trinamool asks Trivedi to go, he wants Mamata's written order

The Trinamool Congress Saturday asked Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi to resign from the post, but the latter has sought written instructions from party chief Mamata Banerjee.  »

Angry Mamata tells PM to replace Trivedi by Mukul Roy

Amid bedlam, Govt. gets some relief, courtesy allies

 

  Most Read

Can Narendra Modi lead India, asks Time magazine

Controversial Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi features on the cover of Time magazine which wonders if he can ever become the prime minister despite his development work in his home state.   »

UPA Politics: Games of brinkmanship and compulsions

The fact that Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi survived for more than 24 hours after Mamata Banerjee sent a "communication" to the prime minister saying 'off with his head' - like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland - suggested that the Congress had finally decided that it could not succumb to her   »

 

  News Pick

Give details on interrogators in Israeli car blast: Court

A court here Saturday asked Delhi Police's anti-terror unit, special cell, to furnish names of investigators who questioned Israeli embassy car blast accused Syed Mohammad Kazmi. Interrogators gave a report denying his  »

Has anti-graft campaign learnt lessons, asks Khurshid

Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid Saturday said the government had learnt its lessons after Anna Hazare's protest last year but wondered  »

'Buddhist' Cambodia mulls Islamic Finance to attract investment

Aspiring to a better standard of living, Cambodia’s Muslims are dreaming of introducing the Islamic finance to the Buddhist country  »

 

Picture of the Day

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee giving final touches to the General Budget 20112-13, in New Delhi on March 15, 2012. Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena and the Secretaries of the Ministry are also seen.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

 

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Science & Technology

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Health

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

Contact us

Business

Career

Education

     

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2010 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.