A Chennai court on Friday restrained Makkal TV, the Pattali Makkal Katchi-affiliated television channel, from telecasting a tele-serial on slain forest brigand Veerappan after his wife had moved the court.

Sixth additional sessions judge R Sadayandi restrained the channel from telecasting the serial, either in the name of Maveeran Veerappan  or Santhanakadu, including its advertisement and trial version of the serial about Veerappan in any form.

The judge granted the stay till October 26, on a petition filed by V Muthulakshmi, Veerappan's widow. Earlier, she appealed to the channel not to telecast the serial, saying it would cause pyschological trauma to her two teenaged daughters.

Elephant poacher-turned sandalwood smuggler Veerappan was shot by the Tamil Nadu police in a gunbattle in 2004. The 125-episode serial, titled Sandalwood Forest, was scheduled to go on air from October 15.