Post News Network
Malkangiri: A woman Maoist and another person were Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a district court for the abduction of the then district collector R Vineel Krishna five years ago.
Additional district and sessions judge Bamashankar Mishra convicted Tapan Sha and M Divya alias Shanti and awarded life term for the abduction of the IAS officer February 16, 2011.
While Sha was a former government employee and had worked as a gram rozgar sevak, Divya was a Maoist. The court, however, acquitted another accused Ghasiram Pangi due to lack of evidence.
The court pronounced the judgement after examining 23 witnesses including Vineel Krishna and Balwant Singh, who was the project director, district rural development agency (DRDA) at the time of the abduction, said government counsel Bhabani Mishra.
Vineel Krishna and Pabitra Mahji, a junior engineer accompanying him, were abducted by a group of Maoists on the evening of February 16, 2011 when the then collector was on a visit to a remote and Naxal-hit Chitrakonda area.
He was returning to the district headquarters town here after attending a panchayat-level meeting when the Maoists intercepted them.
The abductors first released the junior engineer February 22 and sent a letter listing their demands including halt to the operations by security forces and release of tribal rebels lodged in jail. The IAS officer was released February 24 by the Red rebels.
