Thaindian News

Bangalore, Nov 26 (IANS) Muthulakshmi, wife of slain forest brigand Veerappan, was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday from the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border by the Karnataka police for five criminal cases against her, the police said.”Muthulakshmi was picked up near Mettur, following a non-bailable warrant issued against her by a Karnataka court,” inspector general of police J.V. Gaonkar told IANS.

“The warrant was issued last week by a court in Chamarajanagar district (which borders Tamil Nadu),” sub-inspector T. Ashok Kumar said on phone from Chamarajanagar, about 180 km from here.

“There are four TADA (now repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities [prevention] Act) cases and one murder case against her,” Kumar said. Mettur is about 180 km from here.

The cases include murder of a Karnataka deputy conservator of forest Srinivas in 1991, killing of M. Shakeel Ahmed, a sub inspector in the Special Task Force set up by Karnataka to nab Veerappan in 1992 and the 1993 bomb blast in Palar near Mettur in Tamil Nadu in which over 20 policemen were killed, he said.

Veerappan, a notorious sandalwood smuggler and elephant poacher, ruled the forests on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border for nearly two decades till he was shot dead by Tamil Nadu police Oct 18, 2004 in the jungles of Dharmapuri bordering Karnataka.

Asked whether Tamil Nadu police help had been taken in arresting Muthulakshmi, Kumar said: “No. It was our operation. We were gathering information on her movements once the court issued a non-bailable warrant against her. We picked her up in the early hours of Wednesday near Mettur,” he said.