Southern States - Tamil Nadu

`Scribe has nothing to do with ultras'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI MARCH 2. Nakkeeran today refuted the Home Secretary, Naresh Gupta's contention that its reporter, Sivasubramaniam, was connected with separatist groups. ``The allegation is part of the government aim of wiping out the Tamil biweekly, its editor, R.R. Gopal, said.

Reacting to Mr.Gupta's statement claiming that investigations revealed Mr. Sivasubraniam's connections with the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army and the Tamil Nadu Retrieval Troops, Mr.Gopal, in a statement, noted that a DIG, Ashutosh Shukla, had claimed that the reporter's house was searched on February 26, while Mr.Gupta later said the police had conducted an inquiry with the journalist's wife.

Mr.Gupta also stated incriminating evidence had been secured from the reporter's house, but the police had not obtained the signature of any of the residents. Normally, the police should give a list of things taken away from any house after a search, Mr. Gopal said.

The police, he alleged, were incensed at Mr. Sivasubramaniam's wife ``exposing", at a press conference, the police atrocities committed during the raid. In retaliation, cases were registered against her and the family members, besides two newspersons and an advocate ``for preventing the police from doing their duty'', that too two days after the raid.

On Mr.Gupta's statement that Mr.Sivasubramaniam was involved in the kidnap of `Netrikkan' Mani, lawyer Krishnasamy and the Kannada actor, Rajkumar, Mr.Gopal said the first two persons went into the forest to `interview' the jungle brigand Veerappan but he held them hostage. As for the Rajkumar kidnap episode, Mr. Gopal said Nakkeeran got involved in negotiations only after repeated requests came from the two State governments for protecting the interests of Tamils in Karnataka. Even so, the actor was not handed over by Veerappan to the Nakkeeran team, Mr Gopal said reiterating that Mr.Sivasubramaniam had no connection whatsoever with any extremist element.

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