The Delhi high court on Monday sought reports from the Centre, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments on the action taken to nab forest brigand Veerappan.

A bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice S K Agrawal directed the Union and the state government of both states to submit by February 11 details on the steps taken to nab the bandit.

The court allowed the request of Centre's counsel Jayant Bhushan and counsel for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to give them some more time to file replies.

The court also specifically asked Karnataka about its initiatives since Veerappan's recent activities occurred in its territory.

The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking initiation of concrete steps to apprehend Veerappan after it had issued notices to the Centre, Tamil Nadu and Karnatka on December 10.

The PIL filed by K G Dhananjayan Chauhan also sought a probe on former Karnataka DGP C Dinakar's allegations that the state had paid Rs 20 crore to Veerappan to secure the release of Kannada filmstar Dr Rajkumar from his clutches two years ago.

Dinakar had made the allegations in his recently published book --- Veerapan's Prize Catch: Rajkumar.

The Saga of Verrappan
The Nagappa Abduction
The Abduction of Rajakumar