The Congress government led by S M Krishna was fighting off a crisis today when abducted JD(U) leader H Nagappa’s decomposed body was recovered from the forest. Veerappan has in a cassette sent to Nagappa’s family pointed a finger at the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force and tried to wash his hands off the incident. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has, however, denied any role of her state’s STF. Soon after the Karnataka STF found the 66-year-old former minister’s body in Handigodusone forests between Ponnachi and Chengudi, 50 km from Kamagere, the Opposition began demanding Krishna’s resignation for mishandling the 106-day old crisis. JD(U) leader and Union Minister Sharad Yadav attacked both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments over Nagappa’s death, saying the ‘‘tussle’’ between them was responsible for the tragedy. Six cassettes, a tragedy and a farce Sunday, august 25: H Nagappa kidnapped from farmhouse in Kamagere August 26: First cassette from Veerappan, demanding release of prisoners August 27: Nagappa’s wife Parimala broadcasts appeal on AIR. STF starts operations August 28: Cowherd Madanayaka arrested on suspicion of being Veerappan informer. Law Minister Raju Gowda promises that Nagappa will be rescued by Sept 1 Sept 2: J Jayalalithaa claims Karnataka paid Rs 3 crore for Rajkumar’s release Sept 3: Tamil nationalist Kolathur Mani proposed for emissary Sept 5: Paramilitary joins operations Sept 6: Veerappan sighted in Veenyam Sept 12: R P Sharma shunted out of STF, replaced by IGP Jyotiprakash Mirji Oct 25: Kolathur Mani gets bail Nov 23: All parties decide against STF operations, agree on sending Mani as emissary, dropping cases against him Nov 23: Mani gets bail in 3 of 4 cases Dec 5: 12-day deadline expires Dec 8: Veerappan’s sixth cassette arrives. Nagappa confirmed dead The police went looking for Nagappa after they received a cassette from the bandit — his sixth so far — which said that he had released Nagappa. But after the truth dawned on the state government with the body being found, it reacted by ordering immediate resumption of the STF operations. The body, seen by Express correspondents, bore bullet injuries in the chest and wounds on the arms and legs. Nagappa’s clothes were stained with blood and his mouth had been consumed by insects. A radio and a can of provisions such as rice and fuel were found beside the body. Krishna, speaking in New Delhi, back from a round of campaigning in Gujarat, said he had already spoken to his Tamil Nadu counterpart, J Jayalalithaa, on launching a joint operation to nab Veerappan dead or alive. Such claims have, however, for long stopped holding any promise. Union home minister L K Advani, who spoke to Krishna on the phone, said the responsibility for tackling Veerappan was of the two state governments. ‘‘I have asked the chief ministers of both states to have coordinated action to tackle this menace and the Centre would extend all possible assistance to them,’’ he told a TV channel from Ahmedabad. Home Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge said the state government had always hoped the crisis would have a happy ending. The state government has announced a state funeral for Nagappa and announced that schools and colleges would remain closed tomorrow. Nagappa’s family members became aware of a change in the situation after they found a cassette hanging from a tree in front of their farmhouse at Kamagere. It was pinned to a banner which read: ‘Veerappan, Nagappa’. In the cassette, Veerappan claimed he had allowed Nagappa to go after his gang encountered gunfire from Tamil Nadu STF personnel on Thursday. His lieutenant, Sethukuli Govindan, retaliated but in the exchange of fire, Nagappa suffered bullet injuries, he said. Veerappan said Nagappa was shot through the left side of his chest. ‘‘He fell like a bird before me.’’ Soon, he set Nagappa free and asked him to reach the nearest village for treatment, Veerappan said. If Nagappa did not return home safely, the bandit feared, he could be lying dead somewhere. In the cassette, Veerappan speaks very respectfully of Nagappa and addresses him as ‘‘periavaru’’. He says he had given Nagappa whatever he wanted, including food like apples, mutton, bread and jam. The Home Minister did not comment on Veerappan’s claims of not having harmed Nagappa. The veracity of his claim that the Tamil Nadu STF’s operations had led to Nagappa’s death will be verified, he said. ‘‘We have to check whether Nagappa died naturally or due to bullet injuries. So far, Tamil Nadu has denied any encounter but we will verify whether any freak incident happened involving the Tamil Nadu STF,’’ he said. The body of Nagappa, Additional DGP (Law and Order) Subhash Bharani said, will be shifted to Ramapura and post-mortem will be conducted there. Forensic experts are coming from Mysore. In Chennai, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa condemned the killing and attributed the allegation that Nagappa lost his life in an encounter between Veerappan’s gang and her state’s STF to mischievous elements who were trying to foment trouble. She said the TN STF had no role to play in Karnataka after the joint operations with the Karnataka STF had been called off on the request of the Karnataka government. ‘‘The Tamil Nadu STF is in no way connected with this incident which took place nearly 40 km into Karnataka territory,’’ she added. She recalled that when a seven-member team, comprising two ministers and senior officials from Karnataka met her on November 18 this year, she had made it very clear that if Karanataka so desired, Tamil Nadu would be willing to reactivate the joint operations in Karnataka territory to capture Veerappan. ‘‘The Karnataka govt at that point of time had apprehensions because they feared for the safety of Nagappa. Unfortunately, the worst has now happened,’’ the CM added. She said Krishna spoke to her over phone this evening and sought the cooperaton of Tamil Nadu to immediately resume the joint operations. Instructions had been given to DGP B P Nailwal and STF chief Walter Davaram to immediately ‘‘get in touch with their Karnataka counterparts and plan an effective and conclusive joint operation forthwith.’’ In Kamagere, the police had to resort to firing 10 rounds to control the mob. One person and some journalists were injured in the process. In Ajipura, one KSRTC bus was burnt. At Vandalli, two buses and three trucks were burnt. In Hanur, shops were ransacked and set on fire. In Vadakehallthiravu, a mob of angry supporters chased STF personnel and abused them.
