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Police detain Rajakumar negotiator

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The Tamil Nadu police have detained 'Kolathur' Mani, one of the three negotiators who had helped secure Kannada matinee icon Rajakumar's release from the captivity of the bandit Veerappan and his pan-Tamil extremist associates.

While the police claim that Mani may have information about Veerappan's whereabouts, indications are that he may be asked for information that could embarrass the former government of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M Karunanidhi.

Mani was detained near Mettur while travelling in a car. He has been credited with offering to negotiate Veerappan's surrender. To the state police, this implied knowledge of the bandit's whereabouts, knowledge that the Special Task Force hunting Veerappan could use.

Mani, however, is now reported to have denied any knowledge of Veerappan's whereabouts. What's more, he is also reported to have disowned the statement attributed to him, offering to help secure the bandit's surrender.

Mani's detention has come at a time when the joint STF of the police forces of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have intensified their search for Veerappan after a period of inactivity caused by the DMK ruling over Fort St George.

With the AIADMK now repeatedly asserting its desire to 'expose' the DMK's handling of the Rajakumar abduction case, Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna is said to be keen on avoiding any controversy that could revive the anti-Tamil mood of the past in his state.

More importantly, his government is not too keen for details of the negotiations that helped secure Rajakumar's freedom to come out in the open.

Huge sums of money were rumoured to have changed hands at the time. If these turn out to be true, these could prove as embarrassing to Krishna as they will be to former Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi.

The pan-Tamil links of Mani and the other negotiators could then assume dimensions that were overlooked at the height of the crisis.

Already irritated by then Karnataka police chief C Dinakar's decision to write a book on the controversies attending on the Rajakumar abduction and release, Krishna's government is said to be maintaining a close watch on the developments in Tamil Nadu.

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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