CHENNAI, July 24: Sandalwood smuggler Veerappan is adamant on general amnesty and has given ten days to the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments to respond to his demand, Nakkeeran editor R R Gopal told a crowded press conference today. He has threatened to kill the nine Karnataka forest officials held hostage, if his demand is not accepted.Gopal said Veerappan was ``firm'' on his demand for a general amnesty. ``Despite arguing with him for over two hours, he did not budge,'' Gopal said. Veerappan also warned that if the Special Task Force tried to arrest him, the hostages' lives would be in danger.Veerappan wants a clear undertaking from the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and the President of India, regarding his amnesty. ``I want a clear document like a land patta'', Veerappan told the emissary.Gopal said that he had repeatedly tried to persuade Veerappan not to kill the forest personnel and wait for the response of the two State Governments. He said he spent the entire day trying to convince Veerappan to surrender and face trial. ``But it was all in vain as he refused to climb down from his stand on general amnesty''. Gopal refuted press reports that the two States had sent him as their emissary with the promise that Veerappan would be given general amnesty. Two video films, containing excerpts of the discussions between Gopal and Veerappan on the terms for his surrender, and the pleas of the abducted forest officials to the Karnataka Government for effecting their release, were shown to the media. The video films, shot in the jungles of Karnataka, were revealing in more ways than one. Veerappan and Gopal are seen seated on what looks like a well-trodden pathway, surrounded by some rifle-toting guards and a few trees. There were no signs of the thick forests which, according to the Special Task Force, are the biggest constraint in nabbing the brigand who has allegedly killed nearly 120 forest and police personnel and eluded law enforcers for over two decades.Gopal said Veerappan also wanted the Government to provide him with a gun as he had no faith in the Special Task Force. The Nakkeeran editor today made it clear that he would not undertake another trip to the jungles to convey the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments' response to Veerappan's demands. `` I don't want to play a postman '', he said.HOSTAGES' PLEA: The nine hostages, with whom Gopal spent about two hours and shared a meal (``At first they threatened to go on a hunger strike in protest against their being kept in captivity. Later, they gave up the idea, in response to my pleas'') were anxious to return home. They are, however, making no attempt to escape as Veerappan has threatened to chop off the limbs of the rest of the hostages, if even one of them tries to escape, Gopal said. They told Gopal they were captured by Veerappan's men in the garb of forest personnel.
