Maoists' demand being conceded: Odisha government

Odisha government, grappling with the hostage crisis, on Tuesday said some demands made by Maoists like halt to combing operations, have been conceded as prospects of the release of the lone Italian national seemed to have brightened.

The state government has said there would be no coercive action as long as Maoists did not indulge in violence, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told the assembly while making a fresh appeal for the release of Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka kidnapped by Maoists from Koraput district on March 24.

Referring to halt to combing operations as demanded by Maoists, Patnaik, however, pointed out that a police sub-inspector was gunned down in Malkangiri district and two policemen were killed in a landmine blast in Koraput district before Hikaka's kidnap.

On the release of jailed Maoists, Patnaik said cases against 83 activists of the ultra-backed Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha have been withdrawn.

Talks for the release of the second Italian in Maoist captivity 54-year-old Puri-based tour operator Paulo Bosusco are likely to bear fruit soon, he said.

The two Maoist-nominated negotiators, B D Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty, also said a positive outcome is likely to emerge very soon. While the extremists freed Italian tourist Claudio Colangelo as a "goodwill gesture" on Sunday, his compatriot

Bosusco is still in their captivity. The two were abducted in Kandhamal district on March 14.