Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhina Hikaka on Monday completed 30 days in the Maoist captivity, even as no concrete information was received from the rebel camps about his release.
The top officials of the state government, who are reluctant to the withdraw cases against 29 prisoners and release them immediately as demanded by the rebels, were waiting in the state capital with their fingers crossed for further response from the ultras.
The government has announced to facilitate release of 25 prisoners.
The MLA was kidnapped by the members of the Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) late on March 23 night from Dayaput area while returning to his home at Laxmipur after attending a party meeting at Koraput town.
The rebels have announced that the fate of the 37-year-old MLA would be decided at a Kangaroo court to be held on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, sources said a group of the Maoists who were part of the Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon’s abduction plot have sneaked into the dense forests of Malkangiri district in the neighbouring Orissa.
Home secretary Upendra Nath Behera, however, dismissed any such possibility and said the Orissa borders with Chhattisgarh had been sealed after the kidnapping incident on Saturday.
Mr Behera said the state government was in constant touch with the Chhattisgarh government after the collector’s abduction and sharing intelligence inputs on the mobility of the ultras.
The Sukma collector, believed to be in the custody of the dreaded Maoist leader Venu, is suspected to be kept somewhere Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.