Paolo Bosusco, who was held hostage by Odisha
State Organizing Committee (OSOC) of the Communist
Party of India-Maoist, is said to have revealed
vital information about Sabyasachi Panda,
the secretary of OSOC, reports The Times
of India. Paolo estimated Panda
has just about 20 cadres, including 10 women,
each armed with a gun. The unit has one VHF
set, one walky-talky, two tiffin bombs, one
laptop with data card and one generator. He
described the OSOC leader as "sick".
"He regularly takes medicines. I don't
know what they were," Paolo told the
Police. "They change their places frequently
and never stay in villages. They prefer hill
tops with streams nearby. I too travelled
with them from one place to the other,"
a source quoted the Italian as saying. Paolo
said he slept with others in the jungle one
night when Panda woke up everyone and asked
them to "lie down quietly". That
was the time when members of "another
group" reportedly came searching for
them, a police source said. The former hostage
even remembered the names of the Maoist cadres
and identified pictures the Police showed
him. Paolo's statement corroborated messages
received earlier that one Suresh, a unit commander
belonging to Andhra Odisha Border Special
Zonal Committee (AOBSZC), along with about
30 cadres had been scouting for Panda through
the tribal hamlets located in inaccessible
regions. OSOC is said to have fallen out with
the AOBSZC.
Meanwhile, bringing factionalism among Maoists
to the fore, Nikhil, spokesman of Bansadhara
Division Committee of CPI-Maoist in his letters
to the media said, “They [Telugu cadres] torture
Oriya cadres, reports The Indian Express.
They give poor food, torn uniforms and damaged
shoes to Oriya cadres.” He alleged that Telugu
and Chhattisgarh cadres had killed Oriya Maoist
Rabi two months ago in the forest near Kerubadi
in Kandhamal District when he opposed the
discrimination. |
