Chennai, Nov. 17 :    Chennai, Nov. 17:  Forest brigand Veerappan has offered to surrender to the Tamil Nadu government. But the offer, in the form of a taped audio message to A.S. Mani, editor of Tamil weekly Nettrikann, came with a rider - withdrawal of the joint special task force of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. 'This is Veerappan speaking and I have decided to surrender,' the bandit opens dramatically in the tape. 'But first let the STF from both the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka sides withdraw. The dialogue process could then be initiated if you, after conveying my decision to Jayalalithaa and the government, announce your intent to come to the forest with a trusted aide.' The overture comes almost a year after the release of Kannada screen icon Raj Kumar. Veerappan had declared himself an extremist during the abduction saga, claiming to fight for the 'Tamil underdogs'. Sources said the bandit made the offer apparently after feeling the heat of the special force operations, headed by Rambo cop Walter I. Davaram. This morning, Mani played the seven-minute cassette to the media at a hastily-erected shamiana near the magazine's office here. For now, withdrawal of the task force is the only condition Veerappan has set. 'There are some other demands too,' he tells Mani in the tape. 'I had asked for a general pardon, but let us see.' The Tamil Nadu government has already said there is no question of considering a pardon, and that the joint man-hunt would continue till the bandit is caught. Veerappan makes it plain in the cassette that he has approached Mani this time because the government's emissary on earlier occasions, R.R. Gopal, editor of the Tamil biweekly, Nakkeeran, had 'betrayed him'. 'Once you let me know through the press and All-India Radio that you are ready for talks, I will immediately send one of my associates who will help kick-start the process regarding my surrender,' Veerappan says, emphasising that the task force should first quit the scene. Veerappan also denied a report that some of his associates were involved in 'ransacking' shops in Andhiur, close to the forest area where he operates. 'Why should I do it when I can send a truck-load of provisions to the police?' he says with characteristic bluster. Mani said he received the cassette through one of Veerappan's aides on November 7 and two days later had faxed a message to chief minister O. Panneerselvam for an appointment to hand over a copy of the cassette. 'However, till last night, I have received no reply,' he said. Panneerselvam, who is in Delhi, said the state government has not received any tape from Veerappan. 'No tape has been received as yet. We don't know whether it is a genuine offer,' he told reporters on the sidelines of the chief ministers' conference on internal security. Mani expressed hopes that the government would respond positively to the surrender offer and put a stop to the mounting cost of operations which have run up to nearly Rs 3,000 crore. Mani expects Veerappan to send another audio and a video cassette soon.