The Karnataka cabinet on Monday decided to double the reward on forest brigand Veerappan's head from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore.
This was announced by Chief Minister S M Krishna in Bangalore after a two-hour cabinet meeting. The meeting was called to take stock of the situation in the wake of former minister H Nagappa's death in Veerappan's custody.
The cabinet also authorised Krishna to write a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seeking an urgent meeting of the chief ministers of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to chalk out a coordinated strategy to hunt down the bandit.
"I will be writing to the prime minister on Tuesday. Defence and Union home ministries would also be invited to participate in the meeting to provide logistics and other assistance to the three states, in whose forests the outlaw operates," Krishna said.
The chief minister refused to give his government's opinion on whether Nagappa was killed by Veerappan or he died in an encounter that the bandit claims took place between the Tamil Nadu STF and his gang in the Changdi forest on Thursday.
Referring to the joint STF operations launched on Sunday night to trace Veerappan, Krishna said: "We will also be seeking from the Centre whatever assistance the two STFs will be requring to intensify the search operation. We are determined to catch Veerappan this time -- dead or alive," Krishna said.
Krishna refused to comment on the Nagappa family's rejection of the Karnataka government's offer to accord a state funeral to the former minister. "You should put this question to the family members of Nagappa," Krishna said.
The chief minister said the law and order situation in the state is peaceful, barring a few stray incidients in Chamarajanagar district, where the police opend fire in the air and burst teargas shells to disperse agitated mobs.