'Sacked Maoist leader's life in danger'

Subhashree Panda, wife of sacked Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, has said there is threat for her husband’s life from police and militants alike.

“I see danger to his life not only from the police but also from his former colleagues. I have told him to be more careful and alert. It will certainly be a big challenge for him to tackle the danger from both sides,” she told reporters here.

The central committee of the CPI (Maoists) issued a statement to the press late night on August 3 declaring that Sabyasachi has been removed from the post of general secretary of the party’s Odisha state committee for his “anti-organisational activities”.

Subhashree, however, insisted that her husband had already left the party protesting the undemocratic and anti-people policies of its leaders and had floated his own outfit in Odisha. “They can not sack him because he has already left the organisation and formed his own outfit called Odisha Maoists’ Party”, she said. 

She said her husband may quit Maoism and return to mainstream if the state government “withdraws the cases pending against him and provides a democratic space”. However, it may not be easy for the Odisha government to withdraw the cases against the “most wanted” Maoist leader as majority of the cases are serious in nature.Sabyasachi is said to be the mastermind behind the kidnapping of the two Italian tourists in Kandhamal district in March this year. 

Other important cases against him include the killing of religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in Kandhamal which led to communal riots in the backward district.