Almost a year after the Orissa government managed to resolve an intricate hostage crisis involving former Malkangiri collector R. Vineel Krishna, it got caught in a similar predicament on Sunday after the Maoists abducted two Italian tourists in the deep forests on the borders of Kandhamal and Ganjam districts in the state.
The two were identified as Bosusco Paolo and Claudio Colangelo. Sources said the two Italians (one being a tour operator) and two other local tourists had left for Kandhamal on an adventure tourism trip on March 12. After travelling through interior areas of the district, they were returning to their base in Puri, 250 km from the place where the kidnapping took place. On the way, the rebels stopped their car and seized them at gunpoint.
Sources said the rebels set a Sunday evening deadline to deliver on their 13 demands. In an audiotape released to the media Sunday, Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda asked the state government to, among other things, halt Operation Green Hunt in Maoist-infested areas, free 600 tribals held in jails across the state immediately and drop cases against those with Maoist links.
The Maoists claimed the hostages were found taking “objectionable” pictures of tribals in interior areas despite a ban on such activities by foreign tourists.