Two Veerappan associates held; guns, explosives seized

By Our Staff Reporter

ERODE, OCT. 31. Two Veerappan associates, wanted in the Rajkumar kidnap case, have been arrested and guns and explosives seized from them, Mr. Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Superintendent of Police, Erode said today.

Yesterday, Pasavannan (40) of Rudrappa of Malkuttipuram Thotty in Thalawady forests surrendered before the Village Administrative Officer at Diginarai.

The VAO informed the Thalawady police, who arrested Pasuvannan. On his information, Nagaraj (39), also of Malkuttipuram, was arrested. The two confessed that they had helped the forest brigand to kidnap the Karnataka actor from his farm house at Dhoddagajanure in Thalawady forest on July 30, 2000.

The police on their confession also unearthed two SBML guns, 40 gelatin sticks, 20 detonators and some fuse wife buried inside the forest. Pasavannan and Nagaraj were remanded to custody by the Sathyamangalam judicial magistrate.

Mr. Shailesh Kumar Yadav said Pasuvannan and Nagaraj, along with three others, had provided food articles to Veerappan and his main associates, Sethukuzhi Govindan and Chandra Gowder. These five persons had also furnished information to the Veerappan gang about the movements of Mr. Rajkumar.

Eight other Dhoddagajanure villagers who had

acted as `watch and ward' informing Veerappan of the movements of the police and the public, were now in the Gulbargha Central jail for attempting, along with the brigand, to commit a dacoity in B.R.Hills and Onnamatty in Karnataka. The Thalawady police would visit Gulbarga Central Prison and arrest the eight in connection with the Rajkumar abduction case.

So far seven persons had been arrested in the kidnap case and others would soon be nabbed.

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Section  : Southern States
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