Abducted Orissa collector’s friends flood Facebook to seek his release

As the deadline set by Maoists draws near – it is Friday night – Krishna’s friends put up ‘Free Malkangiri Collector and Engineer’ and ‘Support for Vineel’ e-groups on Thursday.

Hundreds have become members of the group wishing for the early release of Vineel.

Another friend even opened a Facebook account yesterday for Vineel and saw 181 people becoming ‘friends’ of Vineel in 24 hours.

The account introduces Vineel with the statement: “Well!! Right now I am abducted by Maoists for working honestly and delivering public services to tribal community in Malkangiri. Please support.”

“Maoist may have the right to avenge the people,who work against the interest of the tribals. (But Vineel is) a great civil servant and human being. Let all of us appeal for his safe return to his family. I am confident that he will come back to us otherwise nobody will pursue virtues in life,” wrote Brajanarayan Mohapatra,a government pediatric doctor now on deputation to Saudi Arabia on the “Support for Vineel” group wall.

With over 1,300 Facebook users becoming members in both the e-groups in less than 24 hours and praying for his early release,the groundswell support for the IIT-educated collector and the engineer is all too visible.

Member of the group Ashis Mohanty wrote; “Vineel is an asset to the country. I salute your spirit and wish a safe home coming. We all love you so much.” Another member Sigythomas Vaidhyan wrote: “Our heart goes out to Vineel and Pabitra. Our wishes to them and their families to hold on till the ordeal is over and both of them return safely to their loved ones and to the service of the country.”

Another woman member Archana Varma commented: “The Maoists will dig their own grave by abducting officers who selflessly work for the poor and the vulnerable fearlessly.”

Former Malkangiri SP Satish Kumar Gajbhiye wrote on the wall: “The Brain is boggling,Heart is hissing,Blood is boiling. What can I do for you my dear Vineel? Will these evil forces realise your goodness? Were you not working for tribals? The angel in you never thought about the evil,and they struck you..”

This is a question many people are asking the Maoists,but one that is yet to get a clear answer as reports came in that Maoists have sent a press release to some media houses. The signed 4-page letter written in Telugu from Bhaskar,secretary of Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee of CPI(Maoist) demanded the immediate termination of Operation Greenhunt,end to all combing operations and release of comrades,including top Maoist Ramkrisna’s wife Padma.

The Maoists also want central committee member Aswasth,Ganti Prabhakaran,Sobha,Ishwari and leaders belonging to the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh of Narayanpatna like Gananath Patra released.

They want the Polavaram project annulled,tribal status for the Konda Reddy community and a ban on bauxite mining in Deomali hill,Koraput.

The letter said collector Vineel Krishna has been part of the repressive regime in Orissa and is therefore not above board despite claims by certain quarters that he was working for the poor and the underprivileged. Incidentally,the letter did not set any deadline for fulfilment of the demands.

In Malkangiri,people observed a spontaneous bandh calling upon the armed rebels to release their district collector and Majhi while in Kandhamal,where he worked as sub-collector during the 2008 riots,tribals today enforced a bandh. Krishna was instrumental in giving land rights to tribals under FRA in Kandhamal.

But even as support swelled for Vineel on the Facebook page and off it,anger and helplessness is beginning to set in among the families of the abducted. Chandana,Vineel’s wife is in a state of shock and exhaustion as she vacillates between hope and anxiety with conflicting reports on her husband’s release. Krishna’s parents living in Chandanagar,a suburb of Hyderabad,today reached Malkangiri to be with their daughter-in-law. Vineel and Chandana’s two-and-half-year-old son is now in Bangalore with Chandana’s parents.

Parbati Majhi,mother of unior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi,wept loudly as TV camaras zoomed on her pale face. “Please release my son. He is innocent. I would die…” she trailed off.

The anger against Vineel and Majhi’s captors are all too visible. In the Facebook group ‘Free Malkangiri Collector and Engineer’ a member Siddharth Pradhan wrote: “It’s an irony that a friend of the poor was picked up. This is only going to defeat the cause they are fighting for… Anyway now it’s just extortion and kidnapping.”