Over a month after being in Naxal captivity, Odisha MLA Jhina Hikaka is all set to be released on Thursday.
The decision to release Hikaka was taken at the people’s court on Wednesday after he gave an undertaking that he will resign from the state assembly and also try and get the Naxals’ demands fulfilled.
Hikaka was abducted from Koraput district on March 24. In exchange Naxals made several demands including the release of 29 of their cadres. The government agreed to release 25.
However, the government refused to accept other demands like – complete halt of Operation Greenhunt and withdrawal of security forces from tribal areas.
Despite the government agreeing to release 25 arrested cadres, the Naxals had been changing their terms for the MLA’s release.
Meanwhile, security agencies had launched a massive combing operation and were attempting to trace all possible Naxal movement in the area.
——Agencies