Krishna assumes office as PA of Env Min

The 2005 batch IAS officer, R Vineel Krishna, shot into limelight after Maoists abducted him in February in a bid to employ it as a pressure tactic for release of their cadres lodged in various jails in the state. The Red rebels then had chosen three interlocutors for negotiation with the state government to press for their demands. After a week-long hostage crisis, the Collector along with a junior engineer was released unhurt.

Following the incident, the 31-year-old bureaucrat was shifted from Malkangiri and was posted as the Director of Tribal Welfare in the Department of Scheduled Tribe and Schedule Caste Development, Minorities Backward Welfare Department at the state secretariat.

Speaking to mediapersons, Krishna said, his work experience in the tribal-dominated district would definitely help him in his endeavors.