MAOISTS, ORISSA GOVT REACH DEAL

Bhubaneswar: Barring any last- minute hitch, Italian hostage Paolo Basusco may be freed soon from three weeks in the captivity of Maoists who reached an agreement with the Orissa government on Saturday night. —

Bhubaneswar, April 7: Barring any last minute hitch, Italian hostage Paolo Basusco may be freed soon from his three- week captivity by Maoists who reached an agreement with the Orissa government on Saturday night.

Another group, which had abducted BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka, extended its deadline to April 10 demanding release of five more people whose names were not on the list of 23 who were offered to be released by the state government in a swap deal.

“We have reached an agreement and concluded the fortnight- long negotiations with mediators nominated by CPI ( Maoist) for the release of Italian Paolo Bosusco,” home secretary U. N. Behera told reporters as both sides released a signed joint statement after the talks.

Mr Behera, who led the three- member state government side at the negotiations, said the joint statement was signed by both sides as demanded by the Maoist Orissa State Organising Committee which was holding Bosusco captive since March 14.

As already stated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the assembly, negotiators from both sides agreed that the state government would facilitate the release of five of the six persons whose release the Maoists had demanded, Mr Behera said.

The joint statement said that after several rounds of

Another Maoist group, which had abducted BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka, extended its deadline to April 10 demanding release of five more people

discussion, the mediators had given six names — Arati Majhi, Manmohan Pradhan, Suka Nachika, Chakra Tadingi, Bijay Tadingi and Subhashree Das.

The statement said the government would facilitate release of five of these six persons.

The Maoist mediators, B. D. Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty, after concluding the agreement, appealed to the Maoists to release Bosusco immediately and in good health.

Patnaik earlier said in a statement in the assembly, “the Maoists have sought release of six persons. The state government has decided to facilitate the release of five of the six.”

Mounting pressure on the state government, Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda had on Friday threatened to take the “extreme step” against the 54- year- old Italian hostage if his demands were not met within 96 hours.