Southern States - Karnataka   

Police gain vital information on Nagappa abduction

By Our Correspondent

Chamarajanagar Jan. 20. The Superintendent of Police, Chamarajanagar, Harishekaran, has said that the arrested Tamil extremists, Packiaraj and Balamurugan, have disclosed vital information on the sequence of events leading to the abduction of the former minister, H. Nagappa, from his house in Kamagere on August 25, last year.

In a press release here on Sunday, he said the arrested persons had revealed that the forest brigand, Veerappan, established contact with the Tamilar Vidhuthalai Iyyakam activist, Ilavarasan, of Vallam in Perambalur District, through Raja, alias Alexander, and Amularj of Oddaradoddi in Ramapura Police Station limits of Chamarajanagar District. The brigand asked him to send a band of his followers to assist him in abducting well-known personalities from Karnataka, including the minister, Raju Gowda, and Nagappa.

Ilavarasan, along with Raja, inspected the house of Mr. Raju Gowda at Kamagere and Doddinduvadi and elicited information that the minister visited the house once a week. They also inspected the house of Nagappa to ascertain the security arrangements. The arrested persons also revealed that after the abduction, they planned to hand over the minister to the brigand at Ilanoor forest.

During his many visits to the forest, Balamurugan supplied rations, explosives, ammunition for AK 47 rifles, and 12-bore cartridges to the Veerappan gang and also took along some youngsters to be inducted into Veerappan's gang.

Packiaraj and Balamurugan further revealed that they, along with Veerappan, Sethukuli Govindan, Chandra Gounder, Sethumani, Selvam, and Shankar, abducted Nagappa with the help of 25 local people from Ramapura, Cowdalli, Martalli, and Ponnachi.

Packiaraj told the police that he, along with three others including Ilavarasan, had blasted the high-tension tower at Thopiakuppam in Thirunavallur Police Station limits of Villupuram District in Tamil Nadu on November 19.

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