BHUBANESWAR: Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments are in constant touch following the abduction of Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon by Maoists on Saturday. There have been unconfirmed reports that the rebels had shifted the abducted official to the adjacent Malkangiri district.Sources maintained that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday discussed the issue with his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik over telephone. “We are discussing the matter with Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand too. We are constantly in touch with each other and sharing information,” Home Secretary UN Behera told mediapersons here on Monday.Behera said the State Government is also interacting with the Centre over the issue and all required steps will be taken in mutual consultation with the states concerned. Menon was abducted from Majhipara village in Sukma district where he was meeting villagers as part of a government outreach programme. He had earlier visited Malkangiri several times to attend government functions. There is a close similarity between the abduction of Menon on April 21 and that of former Malkangiri collector R Vineel Krishna last year. Both were abducted while visiting village-level meetings. Abduction of two collectors will hit implementation of development programmes in tribal- dominated districts. However, the abductors of Krishna had not killed any person while in the case of Menon, two security personnel were killed. Meanwhile, an alert had been sounded in Malkangiri district which borders Chhattisgarh. All exit points have been sealed and security tightened along the entire stretch following the abduction of Menon. The State Government, meanwhile, has advised all its field officers to take adequate precautionary measures during visits to rural areas in a bid to avoid such incidents in future.As 24 of the 30 districts in Odisha are affected by Maoist activities, officers needed to observe precautions and remain alert while touring, particularly in Maoist-hit areas, official sources said.
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