Maoists extend deadline,Govt contacts mediators

Bhaskar,secretary of the CPI Maoist Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee,announced the extension of the deadline soon after an earlier deadline,also of 48 hours,passed. Reliable sources told The Indian Express that both Krishna and JE Pabitra Majhi were safe and in good health.

But earlier in the day,Sabyasachi Panda,the secretary of the Orissa state committee of the CPI Maoist,had told The Indian Express over the phone that the deadline may not be extended unless the government immediately released 232 people currently languishing in several jails on trumped up charges of being Maoists.

By saying that the Collector worked for the poor,the government cant absolve itself of the sin of torturing poor tribals. Do not blame us if the Collector and the JE are killed, Panda had said.

The threat had come as the government appeared to be running short of ideas,struggling to formulate a strategy to deal with the hostage crisis. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,who is yet put in place a team to tackle the situation,appealed to the Maoists for more time.

During the day,the government said it had established contact with two civil rights activists named by the Maoists as negotiators on their behalf but one of these two men declined to be a mediator,and the rebels insisted on the presence of a third negotiator before talks could be opened.

The negotiators,Hyderabad-based activists Prof R Someswar Rao and Prof Hargopal,had been named by the Maoist leader Bhaskar in a signed letter of demands sent to the government last night. The third negotiator Bhaskar named was Dandapani Mohanty,the leader of the banned group Daman Pratirodh Manch.

Someswar Rao,meanwhile,told Andhra TV channels that he had just been discharged from hospital,and was not in a position to travel to Malkangiri.

In his letter last night,Bhaskar demanded an immediate halt to Operation Greenhunt and all combing operations,and the release from prison of Padma,the wife of top Maoist leader Ramakrishna,central committee member Aswasth,Sobha,the wife of Kishenji,senior leaders Ganti Prabhakaran and Ishwari,and several leaders of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh of Narayanpatna like Gananath Patra.

He also demanded the scrapping of the Polavaram project,tribal status for the Konda Reddy community,and a ban on bauxite mining in the Deomali hills of Koraput district.

Chief Secretary B K Patnaik said that all these issues would be discussed.

There seemed to be some confusion over whether social activist Swami Agnivesh,who recently negotiated with the Maoists in Chhattisgarh,would be a part of the governments team of interlocutors. Agnivesh was contacted by Home Secretary U N Behera,but the Swami insisted on a direct request from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik before he would step in.

The demand sent by Maoists cant be decided at the level of bureaucrats. Its a political decision and the chief minister needs to take a call fast. He thinks by just making an appeal to Maoists,they would release the two officials. The Maoists may not harm the two,but they will surely not release them till their demands are met, Agnivesh said.

Malkangiri,a densely forested district at the southern tip of Orissa,sandwiched between Andhra and Chhattisgarh,remained cut off today from the rest of the state. Maoists have dug up large stretches of the main road connecting the district to Koraput,and blocked it at several places by felling large trees. They also exploded a landmine at Gobindapalli Ghati.

The families of Krishna and Majhi stayed away from the limelight. Krishnas wife Chandana has stayed inside the officers official residence in Malkangiri since the day he was abducted.

Thousands of people took out rallies and enforced bandhs in Malkangiri,Kandhamal,Mayurbhanj,Kalahandi,Raygada and Bhadrak for the second straight day,demanding the popular officers release. In Malkangiri,the district unit of All Orissa Non-Gazetted Officers Coordination Committee said they would stop work and force all schools,offices and courts to remain closed indefinitely.