New Delhi: The Supreme Court today (Jan 29, 2004) converted the life sentence awarded to four members of forest brigand Veerappan's gang to death penalty for killing 21 persons and injuring 14 others, including a superintendent of police, in a landmine blast in Karnataka in April 1993.

A Division Bench of Justice Y K Sabhaarwal and Justice B N Agrawal, which converted the life imprisonment of convicts Simon, Gnanaprakash, Heesekara and Bilavendra into capital punishment, dismissed the convicts' appeals against the order of conviction passed by a Special TADA court in Karnataka.

The Bench allowed the State of Karnataka's plea for enhancement of their punishment.

Karnataka Government counsel Sudhir Walia had contended that it was a fit case of enhancement of punishment as the convicts were members of the gang of dreaded forest brigand Veerappan and the crime committed by them warranted death penalty.

The Veerappan gang had blown up a bus carrying police personnel and informers on April 9, 1993 killing 21 persons, mostly policemen, and injuring 14 others, including a superintendent of police.