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Nedumaran has the last laugh

Much-reviled for his pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam views, Tamil National Movement leader P Nedumaran had the last laugh on Wednesday when he managed to secure the release of Kannada filmstar Dr Rajakumar and another hostage from the clutches of fugitive Veerappan and his extremist associates.

Detractors had questioned the Tamil Nadu government's decision to send Nedumaran as an emissary, but he maintained that he was embarking on the effort solely on humanitarian grounds and rejected insinuations that his presence would enable Tamil extremists in the company of Veerappan to establish contact with LTTE operatives.

However, a curious aspect of the successful sixth mission was that regular emissary R R Gopal, editor of Tamil bi-weekly Nakheeran, had no role to play as he was in Madras when the release took place.

As irony would have it, Nakheeran issued a statement on Wednesday morning saying Gopal would leave for the forests later in the day and hoped to be successful in negotiating the celebrated actor's release along with Nedumaran and two human rights activists Prof Kalyani and G Sukumaran.

Even on the penultimate mission, when Dr Rajakumar's son-in-law S A Govindaraj became the first hostage to be released by the bandit on October 16, these three had accompanied Gopal.

PTI

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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