Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

STF cutting power supply, tapping phones

By A. V. Ragunathan

SALEM FEB. 11. The members of the People's Watch— Tamil Nadu, who have been making periodical visits to the villages on the Tamil Nadu— Karnataka border, have come out with a report stating that the villagers are being subjected to unwarranted assaults in the hands of the Special Task Force on the trail of the forest brigand, Veerappan.

According to the executive director of the Peoples Watch, Henry Tiphagne, it is the reminder of all bitter things that had happened during 1993 on the pretext of search operations being carried out by the STF.

In a statement released here, Mr.Tiphagne said the STF personnel were disconnecting the power supply to villages such as Martalli, Odakkapalli, Sandanapalayam, Nallur and Jallipalayam daily between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. and were also tapping the telephone connections.

There existed an unofficial ban on use of torch lights in these villages. During this period some people were being picked up.

As per the version of the villagers, soon after the death of the former Karnataka Minister, H. Nagappa, in the jungles, the STF detained 25 persons, including James, Alexander and Amalraj of Ottathotti. Only six of them had been kept in judicial custody, and the whereabouts of others were not known.

On January 31, one Hitte Madhavan was taken away from his field by the STF personnel, and till now nothing was heard of him. The villagers had been prevented from grazing their cattle and carrying on fishing activity. The People's Watch had, therefore, appealed to both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments to release those kept, in illegal detention.

The People's Watch called upon the Governments to deposit the Rs. 5 crores promised to the people affected during the operations to rescue matinee idol Raj Kumar, in the bank, which would give a sort of reassurance to the people to some extent.

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