Vishwanath welcomes Raju Gowda's offer to mediate

BANGALORE: Cooperation Minister H. Vishwanath on Thursday welcomed his cabinet colleague G. Raju Gowda's offer to go as an emissary to negotiate with the forest brigand.Vishwanath told reporters that Gowda's offer to go as an emissary to mediate with Veerappan for the safe release of the JD(U) leader is a good development which may help resolve the crisis at the earliest.``After all, both Gowda and Nagappa were known to Veerappan for about two decades,'' he added.Asked about Mysore-based advocate Subbukrishna's possibility of going as an emissary, Vishwanth ruled it out. But persons whose cases Subbukrishna fought in the court and got them acquitted might be able to do something.To a query, Vishwanath said Krupakar and Senani (wildlife photographers who were abducted by Veerappan in 1998) are familiar with the forest terrain as well as animal behaviour but lack the courage to negotiate with Veerappan. ``Somebody who is sure of brigand's behaviour and thinking should go. But that is proving to be difficult to come by,'' he added.