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Karnataka govt drops charges against Gopal

Our correspondent in Bangalore

The Karnataka government has dropped charges against R Gopal, editor of the Tamil magazine Nakkeeran.

A case was registered when Gopal secretly met Veerappan near M M Hills in Karnataka and published 'inflammatory' articles in his favour.

Karnataka home minister Malikarjun Kharge said, "We have dropped the charges as a goodwill gesture. The case was registered in 1996."

The Karnataka government has faxed a letter to Gopal authorising him to co-ordinate with Veerappan over the release of legendary Kannada actor Dr Rajakumar and his three associates.

Gopal is expected to leave Wednesday, to meet Veerappan in the jungles, to negotiate the release of Rajakumar and his associates.

The Karnataka government also appointed K R Srinivasan as nodal officer to act as a liasion officer with the Tamil Nadu government in Madras.

An additional director general of police in charge of security with the state transport department, he is from the 1974 cadre batch.

Srinivasan, who is fluent in English, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, hails from Selam in Tamil Nadu.

A high-level crisis management group has also been formed. The group, which includes Kharge, the director general of police, transport minister, home secretary and chief secretary, will review the situation in Bangalore city. The group will ensure that essential services resume in the city from Wednesday.

Nearly 400 people have been rounded up by the Bangalore police, to prevent violence.

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