In hostage crisis,a tale of 2 Padmas,their husbands

Coincidentally,both the wives are called Padma.

The story of the weeklong hard bargain for the release of Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishna contains a tender,and altogether more human,element. Among the prisoners whose release the Maoists have been pressing for are the wives of at least two top rebel leaders who,it would seem,are also lonely in their jungle hideouts.

Coincidentally,both the wives are called Padma.

The name of Kandula Sirisha alias Padma,the 40-year-old wife of Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna,a Maoist central committee member,figured prominently in the list sent out by the Naxals immediately after they took Krishna hostage.

Padma joined the Naxal movement when she was in her twenties. She fell in love with and married Ramakrishna,before leaving the movement and joining a Hyderabad-based orphanage as a caretaker, said a senior intelligence officer.

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Padma was arrested along with three others on November 13 last year from Semiliguda in Koraput district,as she was on her way to meet Ramakrishna and their son Prithvi in the jungles of Koraput’s Narayanpatna block. The couple had disagreed over the boy joining his fathers movement,but Padma had heard Ramakrishna was ill,and wanted to meet him.

It was not surprising that Ramakrishna insisted on her release in exchange for Krishna,said the officer. And it was the delay in fulfiling this condition that led to the delay in the Collector’s release.

A lawyer for Padma moved the Orissa High Court today seeking her release on bail from Koraput prison. The plea will come up for hearing tomorrow. Pleas were also filed for bail for Andaluri Iswari (18),Sorita alias Roja Mandangi and Gokul Kuldeepia. Iswari and Sorita were arrested along with Padma; Gokul was driving their vehicle.

The second Padma,alias Padmakka,is the wife of Bhaskar Rao alias Balakrishna,a senior member of the Maoist Andhra-Orissa Border Zonal Committee. This Padma has been in prisons in Chhattisgarh since August 2007. The Orissa government agreed to press Chhattisgarh for her release while striking a deal on the first set of 14 demands sent by Krishna’s abductors.

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Padmakka is from Hyderabad,and was arrested in 2007 in Bijapur,Chhattisgarh,and was booked under Sections 302 (murder) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC,and 27 (1) of the Arms Act,police officers said. She was acquitted in August 2009,but was re-arrested. A Dantewada court is hearing the case.

But there is an additional twist to the story of the two Padmas and their husbands and a third jailed Maoist wife. This is Mili Panda alias Subhasree Das,the wife of Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil,secretary of the Orissa State Organising Committee of the Maoists.

Mili,who was arrested on January 14,2010,is in Bhubaneswar jail,slapped with the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Sabyasachi had hoped that he can use the opportunity (of Krishna’s abduction) to get his wife out on bail,and had even called some newspaper offices and mediapersons to issue statements supporting the abduction, said a police officer. But the AOBSZC,dominated by Telugu-speaking leaders and cadres,did not pay attention to his feelers. This incident has shown the clear divide between the Telugus and Oriyas among the Maoists, the officer said.

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Sources said Panda’s attempts to get his wife released are likely to undermine his position in the CPI (Maoist). Panda,who was demoted over his largely unilateral action in the murder of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati in August 2008,may now be removed as secretary of the Orissa State Organising Committee. Panda had organised an Orissa bandh on February 21 to protest his neglect by the Maoist leadership.