I will not hesitate to kill hostages’ warns Veerappan

Chennai, Aug 3: Sandalwood smuggler Veerappan has said that he will not hesitate to kill his hostages if the Karnataka Government does not...

Chennai, Aug 3: Sandalwood smuggler Veerappan has said that he will not hesitate to kill his hostages if the Karnataka Government does not fulfill his demands.

This is part of the text Nakkeeran, the Tamil magazine, whose Editor R R Gopal has gone to meet the forest brigand, has come out with as extracts of the tape sent to Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, in the issue dated August 4.

Veerappan has warned in his message that “If you want to secure the release of the abducted Rajkumar and three others, then send an emissary immediately. The task should be completed in eight days. I will place my demands to the emissary. You could get the hostages released only after fulfilling the demands.

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Veerappan has warned that “You will face dire consequences if you think that you can secure the hostages with the help of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka police. Don’t be misled by the thought that I will not kill the hostages and release them safely, as has been the case in earlier instances. That will not certainly happen now”.

Veerappan said “earlier, I was an individual and was pleading for amnesty. So I needed your mercy. I released them (hostages) since I had no other way to save my life. But the situation has changed. We are in a strong position now. We abducted Rajkumar after meticulous planning. I don’t think that we will release him out of mercy”.

Veerappan speaking in Tamil in the recorded tape said his brother and his friends surrendered before the Tamil Nadu Government. They were remanded to judicial custoday. But they were taken to Karnataka and poisoned to death. “My people were killed in a conspiracy hatched by former Prime Minister who was then Chief Minister, H D Deve Gowda (he pronounces the name as Gownden)”.

“Earlier, I abducted persons for my amnesty. The then Chief Minister J H Patel rushed to Delhi and asked for airfcraft and cannons. Leave alone cannons, even missiles or atom bomb cannot cow us down. We will not retract. I have a lot to say, but I will tell it later.

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You must understand why I am saying this now. You think that Veerappan released six persons out of mercy or fear. You think that Veerappan released the hostages because you went to Delhi to get cannons. But even I can hatch conspiracies.

My demand….If you fulfill our demands through the emissary, Rajkumar will return safely. I can speak only this much… Let the emissary meet me. I will tell my demands to him. After that we can decide the time span for further discussion”.