Use military to nab Veerappan: Bitta

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, AUG. 3. The chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorism Front, Mr. M.S. Bitta, has demanded a joint operation by the Army and other Central forces to nab forest brigand Veerappan.

Talking to The Hindu here today, Mr. Bitta asked what prevented the Centre from ordering a massive operation against Veerappan who held the nation to ransom. ``If the Army could be ordered to flush out militants from Golden Temple in Amritsar and later if the security forces could conduct such an operation in Hazratbal Mosque in Srinagar, what stops the Centre from opting for a similar operation now.'' The security forces would be able to conduct their operations without any hindrance as the jungles had no religious shrines ``which have sentiments of the people attached to them''.

Advocating a ``bullet for bullet'' policy to deal with terrorists and brigands, Mr. Bitta sought the arrest of the Editor of the Nakkeeran magazine, Mr. R.R. Gopal, who is mediating in the present crisis. He said the official emissary Mr. Gopal should be thoroughly interrogated to ascertain the whereabouts of Veerappan. It was intriguing that Mr. Gopal could freely meet Veerappan whereas the security forces of two States had no clue to the brigand's whereabouts.

Lauding the recent Supreme Court decision staying the release of TADA detenues in return for the release of Mr. Rajkumar, Mr. Bitta said the complete surrender by the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka was unparalleled. The Governments that preferred to surrender before a brigand instead of nabbing him must quit.

Mr. Bitta said that when the state had decided to proceed against Salman Khan, film actor, for killing a deer in Rajasthan, how could it justify freedom for Veerappan who had killed about 1,000 elephants for their tusks.

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PM should speak out: Mahesh Bhatt

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, SEPT. 3. Mr. Mahesh Bhatt, film producer-director, said today that the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, should take a stand on the crisis involving Mr. Rajkumar. ``The forest brigand Veerappan keeping Mr. Rajkumar in captivity is an issue of national magnitude and the Prime Minister should speak out. His silence is mystifying.''

Mr. Bhatt told reporters that the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, was handling the crisis well though tangible results were yet to be got. The crisis would not be over just by the release of Mr. Rajkumar. The likely developments in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka which would follow his release needed to be monitored closely in the national interest.

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