Eight senior citizens of the State have again appealed to Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda to surrender and join the mainstream.
The eminent personalities, including former Speaker of the Lok Sabha Rabi Ray, had issued a similar appeal to Sabyasachi last month.
They said subsequently they had placed the demands raised on behalf of Panda with the State Government and there were several rounds of discussion.
The Home Secretary and the Director-General of Police (DGP) have promised to consider the demands and extend all cooperation, they said and added that the process should be expedited.
On the decisions, they said the State Government would review cases against tribals, arrested as Maoists, every two months and remedial actions would be taken in all appropriate cases.
After the kidnapping of the then Malkangiri collector Vineel Krishna in February last year, the State Government had reviewed all cases against tribals and withdrawn cases against 155 persons, they said.
The State Government maintained that all legitimate and legal movement by any tribal group has been and will be permitted under the ambit of law.
Besides, the State Government has already referred the cases of land dispute in Narayanpatna block in Koraput district to a committee headed by the Member, Board of Revenue. It is expected that the committee would send suggestions which will be helpful in solving the land dispute, they said.
There is also no ‘most wanted’ tag on Nachika Linga as only he is an accused in the cases registered against him, the Government said and added that he is most welcome to join the mainstream and work under the purview of law.
They said there can be solutions to these problems through talks between the two sides and called upon Sabyasachi and associates to end their fugitive life to expedite the process.
Besides Rabi Ray, others who signed the appeal included Annapurna Maharana, Mohammad Baji, Ratan Das, Bhabani Charan Patnaik, Krushna Mohanty, Bhagaban Prakash and Prof Radhamohan.