Police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu say the well known local bandit, Veerapan, has abducted four people.

The police say Veerapan -- who has been accused of killing more than a hundred people -- is holding his latest victims in the forests bordering Tamil Nadu and the state of Karnataka.

Veerapan, an elephant poacher and sandalwood smuggler, has been on the run in the region for ten years.

Earlier this month he offered to surrender if the authorities agreed to transfer all the cases against him to Tamil Nadu.