Militants of the National Democratic Front of Boroland, who are believed to have abducted Palagani Krishna Rao, an engineer from Andhra Pradesh, have spelt out their demands.
Mr. Rao spoke to his colleagues in Assam and passed on the kidnappers’ message to his employer, Gayatri East Coast Insulation, a subsidiary of Gayatri Project Limited, Hyderabad.
Company officials told Mr. Rao’s family here that he was safe. But the demands have not been disclosed. The family members fear that too much publicity will encourage the militants to raise the bar and mar the prospects of his early release. “The company officials are relentlessly trying for his safe release,” said Rajeswari, Mr. Rao’s wife.
Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party leader Nama Nageswara Rao, who is talking to the Telugu people and others in Assam on behalf of Mr. Krishna Rao’s family, said on Wednesday: “We received information that he is safe. They [militants] allowed him to speak to the local people there. The demands are yet to be known.”
Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana Rao, who was also coordinating with the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Assam, said: “Negotiations are continuing … through mediators. We are hopeful that the episode will end peacefully.”
He said the Assam government constituted a special team to trace the engineer. “We plan to go there in the next couple of days and talk to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, if required.”
Mr. Krishna Rao was kidnapped on October 16 by five militants from a construction site, on National Highway 31, at Joypur.
A north Indian engineer, working for Gayatri Project Limited, was also kidnapped a year ago. He was held hostage for more than 12 days and released after the demands of the militants were met.
