''We wanted to catch Veerappan alive:'' Karunanidhi

Chennai, Aug 30 (UNI) While there were no regrets about ending the menace of forest brigand Veerappan, the DMK wanted to catch him alive, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told the Assembly today.

Replying to the debate on the demand for grants for the Home Department, he said there were no regrets about the killing of Veerappan. ''No member in the House will say they are not happy (with ending the Veerappan menace)''.

Dismissing Opposition charges that Veerappan functioned like a DMK functionary during DMK regimes, Mr Karunanidhi said 'our stand was that he should be caught and people should be saved from him'.

'We wanted to catch him alive for which talks were held with the help of Tamil magazine Nakkeeran Editor R R Gopal. Veerappan was ready to be imprisoned for two to three years and the then DMK Government had even identified a bungalow near Madurantakam to keep him under arrest and face the cases'.

He had agreed to surrender on a stipulated date, he said.

However, a police official misled him by stating he would be shot dead at the place of surrender. ''If he had surrendered then, he would have been alive, though he might have been convicted or sentenced to death for offences committed by him', Mr Karunanidhi said.

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