Negotiations to secure Italian's release may be delayed: Patnaik

Uncertainty loomed over the early release Italian citizen, Basusco Paolo (55), today while talks were yet to begin for release of abducted Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka (37).

Uncertainty loomed over the early release Italian citizen, Basusco Paolo (55), on Wednesday while talks were yet to begin for release of abducted Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka (37).

In-this-undated-photograph-of-kidnapped-Italian-national-Paolo-Bosusco-poses-with-a-tribal-woman-at-an-undisclosed-location-in-India-AFP-Photo

Lack of communication seemed to plague the talks between the Odisha government and Maoist backed mediators for the release of Paolo who has already spent 15 days in Maoist captivity.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the negotiations for Paolo's release might get delayed for a "brief period" as the state government received some additional demands from the mediators with regards to Paolo.

"They are now being examined. The examination of the demands may take a day or more. Therefore, the negotiation between the three government negotiators and two Maoist backed mediators may be delayed for a day or two," Patnaik told the media in Bhubaneswar.

However, one of the mediators, Dandapani Mohanty, refuted Patnaik's statement.

"We have given some suggestions on the points already raised in the talks. The chief minister does not have the political will and the bureaucrats are misinterpreting things," Mohanty said.

The Odisha State Organising Committee of Maoists, headed by Sabyasachi Panda, had abducted Paolo and compatriot Claudio Colangelo (60), while Hikaka is a hostage of the rebels's Andhra Odisha Border State Zonal Committee headed by Ramakrishna.

On March 25, Panda had released Colangelo as a "goodwill gesture".