Court allows withdrawal of cases against 4 Maoists

"On direction of the state`s Home department we had filed applications for withdrawal of cases against the Maoist quartet and the court has approved it," said public prosecutor Arun Kumar Padhi.

The four persons -- Padma, Rosa Mandangi, Iswari and Gukul Kuldipia -- were arrested by Odisha police near Semiliguda of Koraput district last year when they were about to meet Ramakrishna in dense forest of Narayanpatna area.

Ramakrishna was suspected to be hiding in forest of Koraput district and supervising Maoist activities in Narayanpatna area.

Though the four had no direct involvement with any crime in the state, they were charged under different sections of IPC. The police had recovered some Maoist materials from their possession.

Release of the five Maoists was one of the conditions of the deal between Naxal selected mediators and the state government for release of abducted former Malkangiri collector R Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi.