Crime Watch – Newsletter for February 19, 2011

Bihar officials in Maoist areas alerted

PATNA – Top officials in Maoist-hit districts of Bihar have been asked to be cautious while touring rural area in the wake of the dramatic abduction of a district collector in Orissa.

“The government had made it clear to the officials to take their security seriously,” an official in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s office said …. Original source  : Bihar officials in Maoist areas alerted.

Mediator asks Orissa to free jailed Maoist to end hostage crisis

BHUBANESWAR – As Orissa Saturday intensified efforts for the release of a district collector and a junior engineer abducted by Maoists three days ago, a mediator asked the state government to release a jailed Maoist to speed up dialogue with the abductors, an official said.

R. Vineel Krishna, the district collector of Malkangiri, was abducted … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Mediator asks Orissa to free jailed Maoist to end hostage crisis.

Bihar alerts officials in Maoist-hit areas

PATNA – The Bihar government has asked top officials in the state’s Maoist-hit districts to take all precautionary measures during their official visits to rural areas. It sounded an alert following the abduction of a collector of Orissa’s Malkangiri district, official said here Saturday.

“The government had made it clear to the officials posted in …. Original article  : Bihar alerts officials in Maoist-hit areas.

Orissa hostage crisis: Maoists extend deadline

BHUBANESWAR – Maoists holding an Orissa district collector and a junior engineer hostage Friday extended their deadline, giving the state government another 48 hours for acceptance of their demands.

A Maoist leader, identifying himself as Bhaskar, secretary of the Andhra-Orissa Border State Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist, informed a …. Read the original article  : Orissa hostage crisis: Maoists extend deadline.

Meghalaya rebel leaders send feelers for talks

SHILLONG – Two top leaders of the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) rebel group have sent feelers for talks with the Meghalaya government, an official said Friday.

“The outfit’s general secretary Cherishstarfield Thangkhiew and publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw have sent feelers to the government for negotiations,” a top official of the union home ministry told …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : Meghalaya rebel leaders send feelers for talks.

Backdoor talks on, Maoists urged to extend deadline (Roundup)

BHUBANESWAR – The Orissa government Friday urged Maoists holding Malkangiri Collector R. Vineel Krishna hostage to extend their 48-hour deadline for acceptance of their demands even as it opened quiet talks with the rebels and asked two academics to start a separate dialogue.

With no clues on the whereabouts of the 30-year-old Krishna and a … Original article on : Backdoor talks on, Maoists urged to extend deadline (Roundup).

Orissa asks two academics to mediate in hostage crisis

BHUBANESWAR – Orissa Friday asked two academics to initiate a dialogue with Maoists for the release of Malkangiri district collector R. Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi, officials said.

State chief secretary B.K. Patnaik said the government is talking to R. Someswara Rao, a retired economics professor of Sambalpur University; and Hargopal, a …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

One killed in Pakistan bomb blast

ISLAMABAD – At least one person was killed and four people were injured Friday when a car bomb exploded near a police station in northwestern Pakistan, police said.

The driver of the explosive-laden car tried to crash into the police building in Bannu city but it went off before the target, Xinhua reported.
Last month, … Original article on : One killed in Pakistan bomb blast.