Two
Tamil magazines war over sandalwood smuggler
Chennai,
Nov 18 (IANS) Two popular Tamil magazines are at war, thanks to accusations by
elusive Indian sandalwood smuggler Veerappan who has just hit the headlines
with a surprise offer to surrender.
The
weekly Naveena Netrikkan and its editor A.S. Mani have said Veerappan has
charged that R.R. Gopal, editor of rival magazine Nakkeeran, took Rs.5 billion
from the elephant poacher but still "betrayed" him. Mani told
reporters here Saturday evening that the allegations had been made in a
cassette that the notorious criminal had sent him. He later played the cassette
before the journalists.
Gopal
had acted as an emissary between the Tamil Nadu government and Veerappan last
year when he held south Indian thespian Rajkumar hostage for 108 days.
"Gopal and his aide Sivasubramanium have taken me for a ride after taking
Rs.5 billion from me...I have severed all links with Gopal," said a voice
in the cassette that Mani said was Veerappan`s.
It has always been a mystery how Veerappan is able to deal in such large sums
of money. In the Netrikkan tape, Veerappan tells his audience that he is
prepared to surrender if the Special Task Force (STF) set up to capture him
withdraws from the Sathymangalam forest. This is the second time that he has
made this offer through the media. He has demanded amnesty for the second time.
According
to Mani, the cassette was delivered to his office in the Nungambakkam area of
the city November 7. He said he had sent a copy of the tape to the chief
minister`s office. But Chief Minister O. Paneerselvam has issued a statement
denying receipt of any such tape by his office.
"Nakkeeran
Gopal has turned a police informer. On his information the special task force
recently arrested a youth from the Sathymangalam forest and is torturing
him," said the taped voice. Some of the reporters, who claimed to have
heard Veerappan`s voice in tapes provided by R.R. Gopal last year when he was
negotiating the release of Rajkumar, expressed doubts that the taped voice was
not his.
The
Nakkeeran magazine has also dismissed the tape as a fake.
Veerappan
is known to communicate with Tamil Nadu authorities with the help of messages
taped in audio and videocassettes. Last year, he sent four audio and videotapes
to the erstwhile Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government during the course
of the negotiations for the release of Rajkumar. The tapes were delivered to
the authorities by Gopal, the government`s emissary.
He
has not sent any taped communication to the All-India Anna DMK government since
it came to power in May 2001. The AIADMK government has accused the erstwhile
government of Muthuvel Karunanidhi of being lenient in dealing with the
smuggler who has reportedly been operating from his hideout in the
Sathymangalam forest bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for 25 years.
Veerappan is alleged to have killed more than 300 elephants for ivory and is believed to have a hand in the sandalwood smuggling that goes on in the area. The AIADMK accuses DMK leaders of having bought Rajkumar`s freedom, paying off large sums to the brigand through emissaries. Rival magazines and papers have always accused Gopal of being the beneficiary as an emissary.