Bangalore: After a gap of about two months, Karnataka on November 15 decided to revive talks with Tamil Nadu to put in place a joint strategy to secure the safe release of abducted former minister, H Nagappa from the clutches of forest brigand Veerappan.

The inter-state interaction at the political and official level had taken a backseat after both states were entangled in a fierce legal battle over the Cauvery river water sharing row.

At a high-level meeting chaired by Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna on November 15, it was decided to depute a two-member ministerial team and direct the top police and intelligence officials to exchange information on the bandit and his gang, Home Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters.

The meeting decided to depute "Kharge and Minister for Primary and Secondary Education B K Chandrasekhar to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to seek her government's assistance to end the hostage crisis, which entered 83rd day on November 15.

Kharge said, Karnataka chief secretary Dr A Ravindra and the Chief Minister's principal secretary Chiranjivi Singh have been in touch with their Tamil Nadu counterparts seeking appointment with Jayalalithaa, which would be finalised by November 15 evening.

He said after getting the appointment, the ministerial team would leave for Chennai.

Kharge said that the meeting attended by the director general of police (DGP) T Madiyal, security advisor T Srinivasulu and top officials also discussed the strategies the state had to adopt in dealing with the hostage crisis.

PTI