R Vineel Krishna, once abducted by Maoists, selected for prestigious British govt-funded scholarship

R Vineel Krishna, a 2005 batch Orissa cadre IAS officer who was abducted and released by Maoists in February 2011, has been selected for prestigious British government scholarship called Chevening Gurukul Scholarship for Leadership and Excellence. Krishna who is now private secretary to rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, was a popular district collector in Orissa’s Malkangiri district when he was abducted by 50 armed Maoists.
The other two Indian bureaucrats who also clinched the British scholarships are…
Ms Prasanna Bidari Vijayalakshmi, a 2001 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS currently Commissioner of Kolhapur Municipal Corporation and Sonal Agnihotri, a 2004 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IPS officer who is now working as Superintendent of Police in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Vineel Krishna was a civil engineer from Chennai before joining IAS cadre. But he became a household name after he was abducted by Left extremists which angered the common men of the Malkangiri district.
Krishna episode was referred by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh when he had inaugurated the 6th Civil Services Day on April 21, 2011.  PM referred to the spontaneous support of the people of Malkangiri for their collector Krishna to drive home a point that some civil servants still enjoy the goodwill of the people. “The spontaneous support of the people of Malkangiri, when the Collector of the district was kidnapped by left-wing extremists, is a pointer to the extent of goodwill that well meaning and honest civil servants can achieve,” Singh said.
The other selected candidate Prasanna Bidari Vijayalakshmi is a computer engineer and the topper of 2001 civil services exam. Daughter of a prominent police officer of Karnataka cadre, Bidari Vijayalakshmi is married to an IPS officer of 2000 batch Mallikarjun Prasanna. Her younger brother is also an IPS who is married to a 2008 batch IAS.