Bhubaneshwar:
The Orissa government may be considering the release of some prisoners - one of the demands made by the Maoists to free Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi - sources have told NDTV.
Sources say the Orissa government may consider dropping serious charges against some Maoist leaders to help them get bail.
Maoists want two of their jailed top leaders - Ganti Prasad and Sriramulu Srinivas - to represent them in talks with the government. The two have moved fresh bail applications in court.
A court in Koraput has asked the police to produce Ganti Prasad, who is in a jail in Andhra Pradesh, so that his bail plea can be heard. Also, the wife of a top Maoist leader and three others will move a higher court after their bail pleas were turned down by a lower court.
The news comes just hours before mediators arrive in the state capital Bhubaneshwar on Saturday for the first round of formal talks with the state administration which is slated to begin Sunday.
The two mediators from Andhra Pradesh, Professor Hargopal and Professor Someswar Rao, who were handpicked by the Maoists to negotiate with the government on their demands for the release of Krishna and Majhi, will first meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik before the talks begin.
Earlier in the day, the state government said the abducted Collector and the junior engineer were safe and in good health.
"As per the information available with us, the two abducted persons are safe and in good health in the captivity of the Maoists", Chief Secretary B K Patnaik told reporters after a high-level meeting attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Home Secretary U N Behera and others.
On the deadline set by the Maoists for fulfilment of their demands for release of the two, the Chief Secretary said though initially a time frame had been fixed, "Now we assume that there is no time limit."
Krishna and Majhi were abducted from Malkangiri district on Wednesday evening by the Maoists who had earlier set a 48-hour deadline for fulfilment of their demands of halting the combing operations in the area and release of tribal rebels, currently lodged in jail.
On Thursday, the Maoists sent a list of seven demands to the Naveen Patnaik government. They said they will release the two kidnapped officials if Central forces are withdrawn from Malkangiri. They also demanded an end to Operation Greenhunt and the release of arrested Maoists. The four-page letter with demands from the Maoists was forwarded to the media late on Thursday night. The Maoists said in the letter that Vineel Krishna was also a part of the 'repressive regime' in Orissa.
Apart from the state government, two mediators, family members of the abducted IAS officer and the junior engineer, many other people from different walks of life had appealed to the Maoists to extend the deadline.
Support for kidnapped CollectorVineel Krishna, an IIT-Madras graduate, joined Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2005. In the last 16 months of his posting in Malkangiri, his hard work and commitment seemed to have earned him several admirers and friends.
Following his kidnapping, there's been an unprecedented show of support for Vineel. His Facebook page is flooded with messages of hope. Several support groups have emerged as well.
"Vineel has worked with me in Kandhamal district for two years and I have seen personally what a committed person and officer he is. So at this hour, we request everyone to join in and show solidarity by joining the group - Support for Vineel," said Krishna Kumar, Vineel's colleague.
Vineel's maternal aunt says even after a brilliant academic record and an IIT degree, he refused to go abroad to make his future.
"He doesn't mind going to interior places of Malkangiri even though there are no proper roads. He wants to serve the people. That was his aim," said Y Sailaja, Vineel's aunt.
Sources say the junior engineer who was kidnapped along with Vineel was reportedly given a chance to leave, but he chose to stay back with him. He probably was one of the Collector's many admirers. (With PTI inputs)