Central help if asked: Advani

By Vinay Kumar

MANESAR (Haryana), OCT. 16. The Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, today said that the Centre would assist the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Governments to resolve the hostage crisis, involving Mr. Rajkumar, only if they insisted.

``We are in touch with the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Governments and they are dealing with the situation. If they agree that the Centre should help them, we will offer our assistance,'' Mr. Advani said. His offer came amid reports that Mr. Rajkumar's release was imminent, but he refused to comment.

Talking to reporters after presiding over the 16th Raising Day celebrations of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) here, he said on an earlier occasion, the BSF had been deployed by the Centre to tackle Veerappan. A meeting of Chief Ministers could be held after the recovery of the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, to evolve a consensus on dealing with issues such as abduction, blackmailing and hijacking.

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