CHENNAI, July 16: The Tamil Nadu government is trying to establish a channel of communication with the elusive outlaw Veerappan, who is holding nine Karnataka forest department staff hostage in the thick forests bordering the two States. TN DGP K Rajasekharan Nair said only after the exact demands of the poacher-turned-sandalwood smuggler were known could further action be taken. Karnataka authorities had come here on Tuesday to discuss measures to secure the hostages' release, and the governments of the two States had agreed to protect his life. Nair said it was premature to comment on whether the forest brigand, responsible for a series of brutal killings, would be given a general amnesty by the TN government. The DGP said according to available reports, all the hostages were safe.

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