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Nedumaran's associates offer to mediate

Two civil liberties activists on Tuesday met Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge in Bangalore and offered to act as emissaries to secure the safe release of abducted former minister H Nagappa from sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.

While Sukumaran is a human rights activist based in Pondicherry, Professor S Kalyani is a college lecturer in Villuppuram (Tamil Nadu). They are believed to be associates of Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P Nedumaran, who has been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for his pro-LTTE speeches.

They had played a similar role when Kannada actor Rajakumar had been abducted.

"We are ready to do this on humanitarian grounds," they told the minister. But the duo is believed to have sought protection from legal hassles.

Kharge reportedly assured that their offer would be taken up by the government if the brigand agreed to meet them.

The duo had on Monday met journalist Kolathur Mani in Bellary jail and discussed the issue with him. Sources said that they have requested the Karnataka government to withdraw the cases against Mani.

They have also sought the release of another journalist Sivasubramanian, a reporter of Tamil bi-weekly magazine Nakkeeran, and some others, the sources said.

The government is awaiting word from the brigand on this offer by the duo, they added.

In another development, the commanders of the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Special Task Forces are to hold a meeting on Wednesday, sources said.

Jyothi Prakash Mirji and Natarajan will be meeting for the first time to discuss strategies, they said.

While the Karnataka government is keen on negotiations to secure Nagappa's release, Tamil Nadu is against any compromise.

The two commanders are expected to sort out these differences at the meeting, the sources said.

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

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