The Orissa State Orga-nising Committee (OSOC) of the CPI-Mao-ist on Friday rejected chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s proposal of releasing four persons to ensure the liberty of Italian national Basusco Paolo. It served an ultimatum to the state government to fulfil all its 13 demands within the next 96 hours and threatened to take “extreme steps” if the government did not act accordingly.
“We had asked the government to fulfil our 13-point charter of demands. The dema-nds, among others, included halting the anti-Maoist Operation Green Hunt, release of all tribals who have been dumped in prison cells on false charges and action against police officials who raped and killed tribal girls during search operations. The chief minister has made no response to those dema-nds,” OSOC secretary Sabyasachi Panda said in an audiotape relea-sed on Friday evening.
Describing the government’s negotiation with the two Maoist interlocutors as a “farce”, Mr Panda said he wanted written assurances on his demands. “The discussion during the negotiation process was never focused on our demands. The government tried to conduct the talks in its own way,” Mr Panda claimed.