Dear Colleagues ,
It is activities such as this where civilian personnel are taken hostage,
which results in these
political formations resorting to such acts of taking hostage being termed as
" Infantile". Though it is equally true that collective killings of the Tribal
people and their kidnapping and torture by para military and police formations
do not invite the same nature of publicity and condemnation which the
abduction of an official and his colleague invites , due to the media which
does not equally value the life of every single human being whether an official
, a Dalit, an Adivasi or a Woman . This is the root cause of the violence in
the region which has its roots in arbitrary land , water and resouce seizure ,
the eviction of the tribal people from their villages , their hearth and homes
with no comprehensive rehablitation measures .
Niloufer Bhagwat
From: Ranjana
To: [email protected] ; [email protected] ; pudrlist ;
humanrights
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2011 8:44 AM
Subject: [humanrights-movement:3760] Malkangiri...latest
Maoists abduct Malkangiri's collector in Orissa
18 Feb, 2011, 03.19AM IST, Nageshwar Patnaik,ET Bureau
BHUBANESWAR: Maoists on Wednesday night abducted Malkangiri District
Collector R Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi, who were
returning after an interaction programme in the tribal-dominated district. This
is the first time Maoists have abducted an IAS officer in the state.
Maoists demanded release of all arrested tribals within 48 hours and an
end to combing operations by Andhra Police, Orissa Police , CRPF and BSF, in a
letter sent via three hostages they freed. Malkangiri Superintendent of Police
Anirudh Singh said on Thursday afternoon that all combing operations in the
district were stopped keeping in view the demand made by the ultras.
Additional Director-General of Police Sanjiv Marik said from the state
police headquarters in Cuttack that all communications with the collector were
disconnected soon after he left the meeting place at around 4 pm on Wednesday.
Thirty-one-year-old Krishna, who hails from Chandannagar of Andhra
Pradesh, had gone to attend a Jana Sampark Shibir (public relations camp) at
Badapada village under Kudumuluguma block. He was accompanied by District Rural
Development Agency (DRDA) project director Balawant Singh , Kudumuluguma block
junior engineer Pabitra Majhi, another junior engineer Damodar Suchen and an
employee of a local non-governmental organisation named Paribartan.
The group left for Papermetla by motorcycles to monitor implementation
of Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutkaran Yojana, a rural electrification programme, when
they were intercepted by six Maoists. The abductors later released DRDA project
director Singh, engineer Suchen and the NGO activist.
Hundreds of residents of the town observed a shutdown and held a
massive rally demanding his safe release. Most government offices, business
establishments, schools, colleges and educational institutions remained closed,
officials said. Road traffic was also hit in the district headquarters.
Students and residents marched carrying placards, 'release our beloved
collector,' and 'we want safe release of our beloved collector.'
The collector's wife Chandana Krishna , who arrived in Malkangiri from
Hyderabad with her two-year-old son, has appealed to Maoists, through the
media, to free her husband. "My husband has always felt for tribals. He has
been working for them. I appeal to the Maoists to free him," she told media
persons in Malkangiri.
Activist Swami Agnivesh has offered to mediate between the government
and Maoists to secure the safe release of the collector. "I appeal to the
Maoists not to do any physical harm to Vineel Krishna and engineer Majhi. The
collector is an honest officer who always loves to work for tribals. The
Maoists should treat him and the engineer as family members," Swami said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters on Thursday that the
government was evaluating all options and monitoring the situation. "I appeal
for early release of the young and energetic officer who is known for hard work
among the poor and tribals," Patnaik said in his appeal to Maoists.
Chief secretary Bijoy Kumar Patnaik said the state government was
examining the demands of the rebels. "We are examining the demands of the
rebels. After collecting detailed information, we will take appropriate
actions."
The collector had not taken any securitymen with him since the rebels
have never targeted senior government officials till now. "The collector does
not use security cover when he goes for reviewing development projects. Never
before in the district have senior civil officials targeted by Maoists," freed
DRDA project director Balwant Singh said.
Malkangiri, located nearly 618 km from the state headquarters, is one
of the worst Maoist-hit districts in Orissa. Maoist rebels are active in more
than half of Orissa's 30 districts.
The incident happened, two days ahead of Union Home Minister P
Chidambaram's scheduled video-conference with the Collectors of 60 Maoist-hit
districts to gauge the impact of the Integrated Action Plan for districts
affected by Maoist violence.
Last year, Maoists had killed 38 greyhound jawans of the Andhra Pradesh
police when they were returning from a combing operation at Alampaka near
Gudulguma.
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