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Veerappan sends fourth tape,
wants minister as emissary

After remaining incommunicado for over a month-and-half, sandalwood smuggler Veerappan on Sunday sent his fourth cassette to the Karnataka government.

In the 18-minute audio tape, he is believed to have asked the government to send state Food Processing Minister Raju Gowda and Janata Dal leader Ponnachi Mahadevaswamy as emissaries to negotiate the release of former minister H Nagappa, who is in his captivity for the last 71 days.

Veerappan may have asked the government to rush Gowda, the MLA from Hannur constituency, in place of Tamil activist Kollathur Mani as the state government could not get the latter released on bail.

Incidentally, Raju Gowda had defeated Nagappa in the last state assembly election.

According to Home Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge, the cassette was delivered at Nagappa's house on Sunday morning with instructions that it be passed on to Chief Minister S M Krishna.

The tape was brought to Bangalore by Nagappa's son-in-law Kiran Patel and his son Preetham and handed over to the police.

Kharge convened an emergency meeting of top police officials, including Director General of Police T Madiyal and security advisor T Srinivasulu, to chalk out the next course of action.

After his meeting with the state police brass and intelligence agencies, Kharge told mediapersons that the government would discuss Veerappan's latest demand at the cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday to discuss the Cauvery issue.

"I have briefed the chief minister on the contents of the tape," Kharge said.

According to police officials, who heard the 18-minute tape, Veerappan has warned the government that he was running out of patience. He is believed to have threatened to behead his hostage if his latest demand was not acceded to immediately.

However, what he is believed to have said next may cause major embarrassment to the Congress government.

Admitting that he understands the limitations of the government in sending Mani as an emissary, Veerappan is believed to have said that he not only knew Gowda well, but also funded his campaign during assembly elections.

There is also a message from Nagappa in the tape.

"My health is deteriorating by the day due to illness and the inhospitable conditions in the forest. I appeal to all the legislators to pressurise the government to abide by Veerappan's demand and rush Raju Gowda as an emissary along with Mahadevaswamy to negotiate my release," a broken-hearted Nagappa is believed to have cried out in the tape.

Veerappan has asked the government to convey its response through the All India Radio.

Efforts to rescue Nagappa got overshadowed during the last two months by the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing of Cauvery waters.

H Nagappa Abduction: Complete coverage
The Abduction of Dr Rajakumar
The Hunt for Veerappan

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