Interlocutors to watch 27 who will be freed

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s announcement to release 27 persons, including eight Maoists, without naming any has not exactly pleased the two interlocutors who on Wednesday said, they would wait for the details.Stopping short of saying that they were not satisfied, BD Sharma said the “methodology” adopted by the Government came as a surprise of sorts. “We have been discussing the issues informally and now the Chief Minister has announced it in the Assembly but we don’t have any authentic news about it. We will wait for the records to reach us tomorrow,” he said.Sharma wanted the Government to make the names of the 27 persons public on Thursday. Naveen Patnaik told the Assembly that 15 Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha members, eight Maoists lodged in Koraput and Malkangiri jails and four other political prisoners would be released. “It is a mixed situation for us because we don’t know the 27 who the CM says will be released. So we cannot possibly offer any comment,” he said. Sharma’s remark came minutes after Secretaries of Home, Panchayati Raj and SC/ST Development departments Upendera Nath Behera, PK Jena and Santosh Sarangi respectively met Sharma and his fellow interlocutor Dandapani Mohanty to convey the Government’s decision.Asked if they are happy with the development, Mohanty retorted saying the two interlocutors can give no feedback since the CPI (Maoist) Odisha State Organising Committee will respond to the Government’s announcement.“It is for the Maoists to decide if they agree to the announcement but before that the Government must come up with records and statement of the CM and other official proceedings,” he said.The two interlocutors, sources said, are looking for the official order but before that a full-fledged discussion on who the latter plans to release. Secretary of Odisha State Organising Committee of CPI (Maoist) Sabyasachi Panda had demanded release of seven political prisoners to set free Italian tour guide Paolo Bosusco whereas the CM said the Government would release four. Who these four are will be key to the Maoists’ response to the Government’s action on Thursday.More importantly, will Subhashree Panda, wife of Sabyasachi, figure in the list is a million dollar question.