Orissa hostage crisis ends, collector freed
PTI
MALKANGIRI/BHUBANESWAR, FEB 24
Maoists today released Malkangiri District Collector R V Krishna unharmed finally ending his nine-day ordeal in the tense hostage crisis in Orissa which at one stage had a dramatic twist.
The 30-year-old Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate-turned Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer returned to his Malkangiri home tonight hours after he was set free from the spot in Jantapai in Chitrakonda forest area, about 90 km from Malkanigiri, close to where he was abducted along with junior engineer Pabitra Majhi on February 16. Majhi (22) was released yesterday.
Chitrakonda Tahsildar D Gopalakrishna said Krishna was released by Maoists this evening, a day after Maoists made a fresh demand injecting a new twist and complicating the hostage crisis. The Maoists upped the ante demanding immediate release of five Naxal leaders despite the State government conceding all their 14 demands.
Krishna told reporters at Malkangiri that Maoists were shifting him and Majhi from one place to another but there wasn’t “much problem”. “We were shifted at least three times,” he said. The release of Krishna came in 48 hours as promised by the Maoist-appointed mediators.
Krishna said there were general discussions among his abductors and they themselves were quite tensed about the outcome of the whole hostage incident.
Orissa hostage crisis ends, collector freed
MALKANGIRI/BHUBANESWAR, FEB 24 Maoists today released Malkangiri District Collector R V Krishna unharmed finally ending his nine-day ordeal in the tense hostage crisis in Orissa which at one stage had a dramatic twist.
