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Maoist refuses bail to get collector out
Maoist ideologue Ganti Prasadam has refused to accept the bail he recieved today from the Orissa high court for facilitating the release of IAS officer R Vineel Krishna. Priya Ranjan Sahu reports.
Maoist ideologue Ganti Prasadam has refused to accept the bail he recieved on Wednesday from the Orissa high court for facilitating the release of IAS officer R Vineel Krishna.
He reportedly preferred to stay in jail till the Orissa government takes steps to release about 600 of his comrades.
The Maoists have sought Prasadam's release in exchange for abducted Malkangiri collector Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi, who was released on Wednesday.
They had been abducted by the Maoists on February 16.
"Prasadam said he would not leave jail until and unless the government released the innocents languishing in various jails of Orissa on charges of being Maoist," said Dandapani Mohanty, one of the three mediators who took part in the negotiations to secure the release of Krishna and Majhi.
State government officials refused to comment on whether Prasadam's stand would come in the way of Krishna's release.
Along with Mohanty, Prasadam played a crucial role in trying to defuse the week-long hostage crisis. Prasadam, who was in the Ongole jail in Andhra Pradesh, was brought on Monday morning to a Koraput court, about 600 km southwest of Bhubaneswar.
