Rebels in India abduct 2 Italians on tourist trek
Source: Agencies |
March 19, 2012, Monday
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MAOIST rebels have abducted two Italian men in an eastern Indian state and demanded that the state government stop all anti-rebel operations in return for their release, police and the rebels said yesterday.
The two men were seized late Saturday while on a trek in the popular tourist resort of Daringibadi in Kandamal, said an Orissa state official.
Police identified the men as Paulo Bosusco, 54, and Claudio Colangelo, 61. One of the abducted men has been living for 12 years in Puri, a coastal town, where he runs an adventure tourism agency.
The Italians were accompanied by a cook and a driver. The two Indians and the vehicle they were traveling in were later released by the rebels.
Local television channels received an audio tape yesterday in which the leader of the rebels in Orissa, Sabyasachi Panda, demanded that the state government stop all armed operations against the rebels. He also demanded the government release his fighters from prison and disband all police and paramilitary camps.
Television channel NDTV said the men were abducted while taking photographs of tribal women bathing in a river.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the state's top elected official, appealed to the rebels to free the men, the first foreigners abducted by the rebels.
"The government is ready for any kind of negotiations under the law, but they should first release the two men," Patnaik told journalists.
The rebels have been fighting in several Indian states for more than four decades demanding land and jobs for farmers and the poor.
The two men were seized late Saturday while on a trek in the popular tourist resort of Daringibadi in Kandamal, said an Orissa state official.
Police identified the men as Paulo Bosusco, 54, and Claudio Colangelo, 61. One of the abducted men has been living for 12 years in Puri, a coastal town, where he runs an adventure tourism agency.
The Italians were accompanied by a cook and a driver. The two Indians and the vehicle they were traveling in were later released by the rebels.
Local television channels received an audio tape yesterday in which the leader of the rebels in Orissa, Sabyasachi Panda, demanded that the state government stop all armed operations against the rebels. He also demanded the government release his fighters from prison and disband all police and paramilitary camps.
Television channel NDTV said the men were abducted while taking photographs of tribal women bathing in a river.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the state's top elected official, appealed to the rebels to free the men, the first foreigners abducted by the rebels.
"The government is ready for any kind of negotiations under the law, but they should first release the two men," Patnaik told journalists.
The rebels have been fighting in several Indian states for more than four decades demanding land and jobs for farmers and the poor.
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