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Veerappan associate Tuppaki Chithan surrenders

Tuppaki Chithan, a close associate of forest brigand Veerappan, surrendered on Friday before Madras Police Commissioner P Kalimuthu, the commandant of the combined Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Fortyfive-year-old Chithan was brought in by Jeeva Thangavel, Tamil magazine Nakkeeran's reporter in Erode.

Chithan is wanted for several cases, including the attack on Police Superintendent Tamil Selvam and the killing of a head constable in an encounter. His wife, Kumbi, was arrested along with five others last Sunday.

Kalimuthu said the accused would be produced before a magistrate court in Erode for remand. He said the STF would vigorously pursue the Veerappan gang's surrender or arrest.

Answering questions from newsmen, Chithan said Veerappan was willing to surrender, especially after Nakkeeran editor R Gopal took the initiative. But Sethukuzhi Govindan, a close lieutenant of the outlaw, was stalling his surrender.

He said besides himself, the five others arrested by the STF Sunday were also planning to surrender.

Thangavel said that Chithan contacted him over telephone from Sathyamangalam and expressed desire to surrender. He picked him up from near the Bannari Amman temple Thursday morning, identifying him from the tonsured head covered by a red towel as agreed. After changing cars four times in view of police presence, they had arrived in Madras on Friday morning.

Gopal, meanwhile, said he handed over the accused's custody to the city police commissioner on Chief Minister K Karunanidhi's advice. Replying to a question, he said he was willing to go into the forest again to facilitate Veerappan's surrender if the need arose.

UNI

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