The district magistrate of Malkangiri R Vineel Krishna, who was abducted by the Maoists nine days back, was freed by his captors this evening bringing to an end the worst ever hostage crisis in the state.
Krishna was released in a praja court convened by Maoists in Tentuliguda forest near Duliamba in Malkangiri district in the presence of hundreds of tribals and media representatives.
Krishna, who appeared to be in good health, is on his way back to the district headquarter town of Malkangiri. He later told the reporters that he was not subjected to any physical or mental torture during the captivity.
Krishna’s release followed arrival of interlocutors, who were mediating for the district magistrate’s release, at Koraput on their way to Malkangiri for direct talks with the abductors.
It may be noted the district magistrate Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi were abducted by the Maoists during a visit to remote areas of the district on 16th of this month.
Though Majhi was released yesterday after eight days of captivity, Krishna was still being held by his captors.
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There was uncertainty on Krishna’s release as the abductors had imposed some new conditions after the interlocutors had reached an agreement with state government on their previous demands.
The abductors had insisted that some jailed Maoists cadres should be swapped in exchange for the release of the district magistrate in the presence of interlocutors. The mediators, who were unhappy with this new condition, had rushed to Koraput today to impress upon the abductors that though the state government in principle has agreed to release some jailed Maoists cadres, the legal process in this regard will take time.
A top Maoist leader Ganti Prasadam, whose release from jail was one of the pre-conditions for the release of the hostages, was granted bail by the Orissa High Court yesterday.
But bail application of four other Maoist leaders is still pending before the High Court. Another senior Maoist leader Srinivas Sriramulu was given bail in one of the cases on Tuesday by the Malkangiri fast track court.
Earlier, the Maoists had given their 14-point charter of demands out of which the state government had conceded to eight demands and reached a broad agreement on the remaining six demands.