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Veerappan may not meet me: Emissary

The Karnataka government's emissary to Veerappan, Ponnachi Mahadevaswamy, on Wednesday said the brigand might not meet him without Tamil activist Kollathur Mani, who is in jail.

Veerappan had asked the government to send Mahadevaswamy and Mani to negotiate the release of Janata Dal-United leader H Nagappa.

"Since he [Veerappan] wants Kollathur Mani specifically, my attempts to meet him may not bear any fruits. But I will still try my best," he told rediff.com

Mahadevaswamy expressed hope that the brigand would at least allow him to meet Nagappa. "I want to see my leader. I will carry recorded messages from the family of Mr Nagappa," he said.

Mahadevaswamy told Chief Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday that he did not want to go without Mani. However, the chief minister persuaded him to be the emissary.

Later, he met Director General of Police Madiyal and security advisor to the government Srinivasulu. It was agreed in the meeting that the police would create a conducive environment to carry out the mission, said Mahadevaswamy.

The JD-S workers, who established links with the brigand and supplied medicines to Nagappa some time back, said chances of Veerappan meeting Mahadevaswamy were bleak.

The workers told rediff.com on condition of anonymity that "we would have brought Nagappa from the forest weeks back if Veerappan had not pressed for Mani's release. He has agreed to take care of our leader, but wants Mani to come."

They also said it was not possible to believe the brigand. "He is unpredictable. He says one thing and does one thing. We have to wait and see what he will do."

On Wednesday, All India Radio stations in Bangalore and Coimbatore will broadcast a message from Mahadevaswamy expressing his willingness to come as an emissary and the problems of the government in sending Mani.

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

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