Bangalore: As the hostage crisis entered the ninth day on September 2, Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu differed in their approach on securing the release of Janata Dal – United
(JD-U) leader H Nagappa from the clutches of forest brigand Veerappan and continued
their sparring on the Rajkumar abduction drama.
As Karnataka government awaited a word from Veerappan, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J
Jayalalithaa in Chennai declared that her government would go all out to put an end
to the menace of Veerappan and his blackmailing tactics and ruled out negotiations
including sending an emissary from Tamil Nadu.
Jayalalithaa also alleged that nearly Rs 30 crore was paid as ransom to Veerappan to
secure the release of Rajkumar, a charge that evoked an angry response from her
counterpart in Karnataka S M Krishna who hit back at her saying it was
an "insinuation" and was "false".
Anxiety mounted for Karnataka government as Veerappan sent no word either about his
demands or the well-being of Nagappa, who was kidnapped by the bandit's gang from
his Kamagere farmhouse on the night of August 25.
Krishna declined to say anything on the progress in securing the release of Nagappa
and merely noted that he was in touch with his family. Nor did he comment on the
operations.
Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge confirmed over telephone from Gulbarga
that the operations to hunt down Veerappan were continuing, dismissing reports which
said they had been suspended.
PTI
