STF sat on news of a kidnapping

Eyewitnesses even reported seeing Veerappan swaggering about, Nagappa in tow, at Kamegere village minutes after the abduction. At around 10 p.m., Veerappan appeared before a farm-worker, Guruswamy, and asked him if he could identify him. When Guruswamy drew a blank, the bandit, who was accompanied by Nagappa, said, ‘‘I am Veerappan.’’

Veerappan then gave Guruswamy a micro-cassette and told him that another cassette would be sent in eight days. The sandalwood smuggler boarded a bus, but not before making every other passenger get off. The bus had gone just a little distance when it encountered a Forest Department jeep. Veerappan immediately got off the bus and disappeared into the jungles leading to Gundal reservoir.

The passengers on the bus apparently told the police what had transpired, and volunteered their assistance in patrolling the area. Even then, STF men maintained that they would act only on directions from their seniors, said the villagers.

According to sources, Veerappan has sent across an audio cassette—it’s not confirmed if it’s the same tape he gave Guruswamy—containing a 51-second message that lists a few demands. One is to release Tamil nationalist leader Nedumaran—he is now held under POTA—and use him as an emissary. He’s also reportedly demanded the release of LTTE sympathiser Kolathur Mani and others for their involvement in getting Rajkumar released. While there is no ransom demand, Veerappan is said to have promised to send another cassette.

It took Veerappan as little time to kidnap Nagappa as it took him to get away. ‘‘It was all over in five minutes. Veerappan and his two associates fired at the door, forcibly entered the house, and dragged my husband away by his collar,’’ recalled Nagappa’s wife, Parimala.

The drama began with ‘‘the sound of gunshots and people kicking at their main door’’ as soon as Nagappa—who had returned from Kollegal town—entered the house, she said.

At that point, Shiva Murthy, Nagappa’s personal assistant, shouted a warning asking them not to open the door.

Though Nagappa’s security guard Puttananja rushed into the house and locked the main door, Veerappan and his men entered the house by firing at a window and breaking it open. ‘‘They walked away with Nagappa, even as his friend Guruswamy fired two more rounds outside the house,’’ she said.

A red-faced chief minister today held out a commitment that his administration would treat the abduction with as much sensitivity as in the Rajkumar case. ‘‘We can discuss acts of omission and commission with an open mind later. Now is the time to act unitedly to secure Nagappa’s release,’’ said S M Krishna, referring to TN CM Jayalalithaa’s outburst early in the day where she blamed Karnataka for Veerappan’s latest audacity.

Krishna, who has cancelled his scheduled visit to the US, said he would meet Jayalalithaa at Tuesday’s meeting on the Cauvery issue in New Delhi. ‘‘The STF, which is trying to nab Veerappan, has failed. But I am not going to blame anybody. Our main aim is to get Nagappa released,’’ Krishna said. ‘‘Besides, Dy PM Advani is visiting Bangalore on Tuesday and Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge will hold talks with him.’’