Varavara Rao appeals to Maoists to release Orissa official
By IANSThursday, February 17, 2011
HYDERABAD - Maoist sympathiser and revolutionary poet Varavara Rao Thursday appealed to Maoists in Orissa to release unharmed Malkangiri District Collector R. Veenel Krishna, who hails from Andhra Pradesh.
In an appeal made in Telugu and broadcast over All India Radio Thursday evening, Rao appealed to Maoists to set free the officer. He also urged the Orissa government to accept the genuine demands of the Maoists.
Rao, president of Revolutionary Writers’ Association, made the appeal after the family members of Krishna approached him and requested him to help in seeking his safe release.
Rao agreed to issue the appeal but said it could reach Maoists only if All India Radio or BBC broadcast it. AIR later carried the appeal over its regional and national network.
The relatives of 30-year-old Krishna here are worried over his safety and have appealed to Maoists not to harm him. His aunt Y. Sailaja is an assistant director of Doordarshan at Hyderabad.
Krishna, who hails from Krishna district in coastal Andhra, was kidnapped by Maoists Wednesday night along with a junior engineer.
Krishna’s father R.Rambabu is a retired official of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) while his mother Kusuma works as a teacher in a private school in the BHEL township on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The abducted official’s wife Chandana and one-and-half-year old son along with his parents left for Malkangiri early Thursday.
Krishna’s maternal uncle Mohan Rao hoped that the Maoists would release him unharmed, as he was popular in the district for the welfare and development of the poor and downtrodden.
An engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Krishna joined Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2005. He was posted as Malkangiri district collector 16 months ago.
The Orissa government Thursday halted anti-Maoist operations as demanded by Maoists. The guerillas are also demanding the release of all their jailed colleagues and have set 48-hour deadline.
