Prez Pranab rejects mercy pleas of Veerappan aides

President Pranab Mukherjee has dismissed four more mercy pleas of late forest brigand Veerappan`s close aides, reports said on Wednesday.

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Days after rejecting the mercy petitions of 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru, President Pranab Mukherjee has dismissed four more mercy pleas, reports said on Wednesday. As per reports, the President rejected the mercy petitions moved by four associates of late forest brigand Veerappan. The four Veerappan aides were sentenced to death in a landmine blast case in Karnataka. An advocate S Balamurugan, appearing for the accused, said, “We have received information from reliable sources that the message has been sent to Belgaum jail authorities and apparently it has also been conveyed to the prisoners." Balalmurugan, who is also the Tamil Nadu PUCL state secretary, gave this information to mediamen. The dreaded sandalwood bandit Veerappan was killed in an encounter with the Tamil Nadu police of the special task force in October 2004. The four accused, Gnanprakasham, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran, were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in January 2004 in connection with the killing of 21 policemen in a landmine blast at Palar in Karnataka near the inter-state border in 1993. T They were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment by the Mysore court. But the government moved the Supreme Court, which awarded them the death sentence. Their mercy pleas have been pending since 2004.