In Odihsa, the first round of talks between the State Government and the mediator proposed by Maoists has begun on Thursday. However it remained inconclusive. They would deliberate on Friday. Meeting has begun in conducive atmosphere amidst tight security in the state guest house at Bhubaneswar.

The state government was represented by Principal Secretary Home Upendra Nath Behera, Secretary SCs and STs Santosh Sarangi and Panchayatraj Secretary P K Jena while the Maoist side was represented by Social Activist Dandapani Mohanty and retired bureaucrat B D Sharma to find way out to the week long foreign national hostage crisis.