Freed BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka says Maoists treated him well

Odisha Maoists have freed BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka after more than a month in captivity and the MLA  said he was treated well by the Naxalites while he was in custody. The release of the abducted MLA was reportedly ordered by a people’s court on Wednesday on the condition that he resign from his position if the Maoists’ demands were not fulfilled.

“I am free now. I was treated well by the Maoists,” Hikaka said soon after his release

Hikaka was abducted over a month ago, on 24 March, by a group of the Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of CPI (Maoist).

A tired looking Hikaka refused to answer any more questions from a large group of media persons and stood silently even as lawyer NR Patnaik, who has represented the Maoists in cases earlier, spoke about him having to resign from his post as a legislator.

The MLA’s wife wife Kaushalya Hikaka and Patnaik, who reached Balipeta half an hour before, received him.

The AOBSZC has stuck to their demand for release of 29 rebels in exchange for the MLA’s freedom, while the Odisha government was ready to facilitate release of 25 prisoners.

Sharp differences among Maoists had come to the fore over the demands for release of Hikaka. While AOBSZC sought release of 29 rebels, Srikakulam-Koraput Committee of the CPI (Maoist) leader Daya demanded release of all CMAS members from jail.

The rebels had been demanding the release of 29 prisoners, mostly members of the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh (CMAS), which works mainly in the southern parts of the state, including Malkangiri and Koraput districts, on tribal-related issues.