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Maoists release Italian hostage, MLA still missing
Thursday April 12, 2012 10:00:30 PM,
IANS
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Bhubaneswar: Maoists
Thursday released Italian tour operator Bosusco Paolo after
keeping him in captivity for nearly a month, officials said as the
fate of another hostage, Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD)
legislator Jhina Hikaka, continued to remain uncertain.
"We are relieved that the second Italian hostage who was taken
hostage by Maoists is now here at Bhubaneswar at our state guest
house," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters.
A crowd of photographers waited to capture the moment as a clean
shaven Paolo came out of his room along with officials of Italian
embassy in India and waved his hands.
Dressed in a white shirt, he said "I am fine, I am well" in Oriya.
Dandapani Mohanty, a Maoist-backed mediator who received the
hostage from the Maoists in a forested area of Kandhamal district,
around 200 km from here, said Paolo was released at about 5 a.m.
"I have already handed him over to the government," Mohanty told
reporters, explaining why he drove directly to Bhubaneswar without
meeting the reporters or police and local administration in the
region.
He said the rebels were still not happy with the government. "They
want the government to release all the innocent tribals from
jails."
Several senior police and officials of the Italian embassy in
India met Paolo in the guesthouse and enquired about his health.
Paolo had been kidnapped March 14 with another Italian, Claudio
Colangelo, from a forested area of Kandhamal district.
The rebel group led by Sabyasachi Panda had released Colangelo 11
days later as a "goodwill gesture" but had been insisting that the
government release at least seven prisoners in exchange for the
second Italian.
Paolo's release comes two days after a court acquitted Panda's
wife Subhashree Das, one of those whose release had been sought by
the Maoists. She had been accused of involvement in a gunbattle
between police and Maoists in 2003.
However, the fate of Hikaka, who has been in the captivity of
another group of rebels since March 24, is still uncertain as the
rebels refuse to release him unless their demands are met.
Jagabandhu, the spokesperson of the group, said in a statement
written in Telugu and sent to reporters here Wednesday: "We will
not release Hikaka unless the government releases all the 30
persons we demanded."
While Paolo was abducted by the Odisha unit of the Communist Party
of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) from Kandhamal district, Hikaka was
kidnapped by the Andhra-Odisha border special zonal committee from
Koraput district.
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