M A I N   N E W S

‘No word from Veerappan yet’

BANGALORE, Aug 7 (PTI) — Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna today said the government was yet to hear from Veerappan on the release of Kannada thespian Rajkumar and three others, held hostage by him for the past nine days.

“We have no update on any development other than yesterday's in which both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu responded to the 10 demands of Veerappan”, he told a press conference here.

Mr Krishna said the government had credible information that the bandit and his gang along with the hostages were holed up in a 15-km radius of Gajanur, from where the actor was taken into captivity on July 30.

Mr Krishna said according to information received by the state, members of the gang spotted an electricity board lineman working on a pole about 10 to 15 km away from Gajanur yesterday and suspected him to be a policeman drafted for surveillance on the gang.

However, on being convinced after questioning that the stranger was an electricity board employee, the gang members paid him Rs 200 and ordered him to get “mutton curry”.

Mr Krishna said the identify of the lineman was yet to be established.

In another incident, reported from Satyamangalam forest range, the gang accosted a villager, who was searching for his missing cow, but let him go, when they were convinced that he was not a policeman, he said.

Replying to a question, Mr Krishna said the government had instructed the public prosecutor in Mysore to take initiatives to seek dropping of TADA cases launched against suspected associates of Veerappan.

He said the detenues would be released from custody once they seek bail.

When reminded about his statement yesterday that the government hoped that Veerappan would end the hostage crisis in 48 hours, Mr Krishna said, “it is still my hunch and gut feeling”.

Probably, he said, the bandit was still discussing with his supporters the pros and cons of releasing Rajkumar and others.

Mr Krishna said the official emissary R.R. Gopal was still negotiating with the brigand in the forests and he too had not sent any information so far.

He said he had no telephonic conversation with his Tamil Nadu counterpart M. Karunanidhi on the crisis today and added that if the neighbouring state got any message, it would be passed on to the state immediately.

Civil Services Exam results
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh Aug 7 — The Union Public Service Commission today declared the results of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination held on June 4. Almost 1,50,000 candidates had appeared in this examination, out of which 5,076 have qualified. The successful candidates will appear in the main examination scheduled from November 3 for about 400 posts in various categories. The results are available online at www.upsc.gov.in and Delhi telephone numbers 3385271 and 3381125.