Muthulakshmi held in connection with husband Veerappan cases

Chennai, Nov 26 (UNI) Four years after forest brigand Veerappan was gunned down by Special Task Force (STF) personnel, his wife Muthulakshmi was arrested early today by a special team of Karnataka police in connection with various pending cases against his husband, the late sandalwood smuggler, since 1992.

Police sources said Muthulakshmi was arrested near Mettur, in connection with several cases, including murder, in which her slain husband was involved.

Police also suspect her involvement in these crimes, leading to her arrest from her residence near Mettur.

The soruces said policemen came and swooped down on her residence and arrested her. After preliminary interrogation at the M M Hills police station, she was taken to Karnataka, where she would be produced before the Chamrajnagar court in Mysore.

Believed to be part of each and every offence committed by Veerappan, including the killing of police personnel, attack on police stations and abduction of Kannada Star Dr Rajkumar, Muthulakshmi has been cited as the prime accused in the Palar bomb blast case in which 22 people were killed.

She was charged with the killing of five people at Rangaswamyvadi and also in connection with the Ramapura police station attack in which five cops were killed. Moreover, she was also cited as an accused in the killing of Srinivas, Deputy Conservator of Forests by Veerappan.

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