A ray of hope for release of the two Italian nationals held hostages by the Maoists in Orissa emerged on Friday with the two interlocutors and state government representatives declaring that they would reach “some conclusion” by Saturday evening.
“We are making progress. We will again resume talks on Saturday morning,” home secretary Upendra Nath Behera told reporters after the meeting that continued from 12 noon to 7.30 pm.
“We have already discussed seven of the 13 demands given by the Maoists and by tomorrow evening, we will be concluding our discussion. The progress is very good,” interlocutor B.D. Sharma said.
The other interlocutor in the discussion is Dandapani Mohanty.
On the very first day of the talks on Thursday, three designated state government officials led by the home secretary had made it clear to the interlocutors that they could not decide on their own the various demands without consulting the government.
It appeared that after full backing by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik, the government representatives agreed on some of the major demands of the rebels.
Two Italians Bosusco Paolo, 54, and Claudio Colangelo, 61 were abducted from the border of Ganjam and communally sensitive Kandhamal district on March 14, plunging the Naveen Patnaik government into a crisis.
Meanwhile, Mr Paolo in a letter received by his friend Alfred Rombola staying at Puri, purportedly said that he was trapped and the rebels might kill him. He has asked his parent to distribute his property among the near dear ones and give Rs 6000 to Santosh Moharana for assisting him in trekking trip to Kandhamal.