Patel, Karunanidhi will meet on Saturday to tackle Veerappan
Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel will hold
talks with his Tamil Nadu counterpart M Karunanidhi in Madras on Saturday
evening about tackling forest brigand Veerappan.
The dreaded outlaw has held six men hostage since October 9.
Patel and Karunanidhi
spoke on the telephone on Wednesday morning during which they fixed a face-to-face meeting.
This follows Nakeeran editor R Gopal's refusal to act as a negotiator in the case again. Gopal, who had refused earlier, had been approached again by the authorities. He had promised to give a final reply on Thursday, after listening to Veerappan's taped demands.
The editor informed Karunanidhi that his earlier
effort was misconstrued by some political parties
and media and, therefore, he was not willing to act negotiator again.
Meanwhile, Patel apprised Prime Minister I K Gujral of the latest
developments on
the issue. He said Gujral exhibited a helpful
attitude. However, central help would be sought only as a last resort -- definitely, only after talks with Karunanidhi.
He expressed hopes of getting Gopal to change his mind.
UNI
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