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AIADMK demands white paper on Rajakumar kidnap

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Monday demanded that the Tamil Nadu government come out with a white paper on the Rajakumar kidnap issue as a number of questions remains to be answered.

Posing a series of questions to state Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, AIADMK chief Jayalalitha in a statement in Madras also asked Rajakumar, who was released last week after 108 days in captivity of forest brigand Veerappan, to come out with a statement on all that transpired in the jungles.

'The Tamil Nadu government has to come clean by presenting a white paper on this issue before the public. If it cannot, it has no moral right to continue and should resign,' she said in the statement.

Asking Rajakumar to make public all the happenings during the hostage crisis, she said: 'For he (Rajakumar), and he alone, is today in a position to reveal the whole truth behind the entire sordid drama.'

Stating that the curtains had not yet been pulled down on the kidnap episode, she said Veerappan had to be nabbed alive and should not be allowed to flee the country.

'Only then will the deep-rooted conspiracies behind the Rajakumar kidnapping and the series of ransom demands including the demand for the release of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act and National Security Act detenus in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, come to light', Jayalalitha said.

It would be possible only if the Tamil Nadu Government had the political will, she added.

Jayalalitha asked why the government allowed Veerappan to consolidate his position with the backing of extremists like the Tamil National Liberation Army and Tamil Nadu Retrieval Troops despite being informed by an advocate in writing in 1998 itself that the brigand was being reinforced by ultras.

It also had to be answered as to why the state government did not provide Rajakumar protection despite a warning in a police confidential report in May last that the actor might be abducted by Veerappan, she said.

Jayalalitha wanted to know whether the Karnataka government readily agreed to the selection of journalist, R R Gopal, as the official emissary to negotiate the release of Rajakumar.

If Gopal enjoyed the status of a government emissary, then all the video recordings made by him during the mission automatically belonged to the state government. In which case, how was he permitted to edit the footage, which was released to the TV channels internationally?

These and a number of other questions cried for answer, she said demanding a white paper on the issue from the state government.

PTI

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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