Maoist threat: Hikakas security augmented

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to upgrade the security of BJD legislator from Laxmipur Jhina Hikaka and move him to a fortified bungalow in view of the threat to him from the Maoists.Hikaka, who was abducted by the Maoists on March 23, was in their captivity for 33 days before being released. Stating that a bungalow is being renovated and fortified, official sources said as the MLA Colony, where Hikaka and his family are staying, is not safe from the security point of view, the Government has decided to shift him to a secure place.The height of the bungalow’s boundary wall is being raised and accommodation being made for security personnel to guard the MLA who was asked by the Maoists to resign within 15 days after being released on April 26.The MLA’s wife Kausalya Majhi, who was posted as a sikshya sahayak at Kanimusa Upper Primary School of Laxmipur in Koraput district, has been transferred to an office under the School and Mass Education Department here. His two sons have been admitted to a school in the Capital, the sources said.Minister of State for Fisheries Ramesh Majhi told mediapersons that there is nothing wrong in providing heightened security to Hikaka who had been released from Maoist captivity last month. Hikaka, who met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik twice after his release from Maoist captivity, had said he has left the resignation issue to Naveen. The Chief Minister, however, rejected the possibility of Hikaka resigning saying that no democratically- elected MLA should resign under the pressure from any ‘illegal force’.