Veerappan's associates move apex court

Four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the execution of their death penalty in connection with a landmine blast that had killed 22 policemen in Karnataka nearly 20 years ago.

Veerappan's elder brother Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran were awarded death sentence in 2004 in connection with a landmine blast at Palar in Karnataka in 1993 in which 22 police personnel were killed.

Their mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on February 13 and according to sources, their hanging has been fixed for tomorrow.

The four convicts are lodged in a jail in Belgaum in Karnataka.

A TADA court in Mysore had in 2001 sentenced them to life term which was enhanced to death sentence by the apex court.

Gang leader Veerappan was killed in an encounter with the Tamil Nadu police in October 2004.