Around 2,000 policemen under the Special Task Force of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are trying to hunt down Veerappan, as the two states on Tuesday renewed their determination to catch the brigand dead or alive.

At a meeting at Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu, chief of STF operations W I Dawaram, Security Adviser to the Karnataka government T Srinivasulu and top STF officers discussed a strategy to carry out an all-out offensive, official sources said in Bangalore.

There is a public outcry in Karnataka in the wake of Janata Dal-United leader H Nagappa's death in the custody of Veerappan.

Meanwhile, the rejection of a state funeral for Nagappa by his family members has embarrassed the S M Krishna government.

Opposition parties in the state are trying to put the Congress government on the mat for failing to protect Nagappa.

But Krishna has gone on the offensive asking the opposition parties to explain why they put pressure on the government to stop STF operations during the hostage drama.