Veerappan

Koose Munusamy Veerappan (Tamil-வீரப்பன் ) (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian poacher, smuggler, domestic terrorist and bandit who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom.

He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

He was wanted for killing approximately 184 people, about half of whom were police officers and forest officials.

Veerappan was born into a Tamil family in Gopinatham, Kollegala, Coimbatore District (Madras State) now in Karnataka in 1952.

He was first arrested in 1972.

After committing his first murder, at the age of 17, he began killing those who resisted his illegal activities.

His victims tended to be police officers, forest officials, and informants.

In 1987, Veerappan kidnapped and murdered a Sathyamangalam Taluka forest officer named Chidambaram from Tamil Nadu.

This brought his activities to the attention of the Indian Government.

In 1990, he was married to Muthulakshmi, who reportedly married him because of his "notoriety and moustache".

He drew further attention by murdering a senior IFS officer, Pandillapalli Srinivas, in November 1991.

Next, there was the August 1992 ambush of a police party, which included a senior IPS officer, Harikrishna.

Veerappan was not averse to killing civilians, and killed a man from his native village for traveling in a police jeep.

He regularly killed anyone suspected of being a police informer.

Because of political instability, Veerappan could easily escape from one state to another.

State jurisdiction problems also prevented police officers from entering other states to apprehend Veerappan.

In Govindapadi, Mettur, Veerappan killed a Bandari person whom he suspected of being a police informer.

As a result, a 41-member team of police officers and forestry officials were called in to investigate.

In 1992, the Karnataka and the Tamil Nadu Governments formed a Special Task Force to catch Veerappan.

It was headed in Tamil Nadu by Sanjay Arora and in Karnataka by Shankar Bidri with Walter Devaram as the joint chief.

In February 1992, his lieutenant Gurunathan was killed by the Karnataka task force, with SI Shakeel Ahmed single-handedly responsible for the capture.

Three months later, Veerappan attacked the Ramapura police station in Kollegal, killing several policemen and capturing arms and ammunition.

In August 1992, Veerappan laid a trap for SI Shakeel Ahmed, killing him along with five others.

The Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Special Task Forces then began intensified combing operations along the two states' border areas and also around Gopinatham village, Veerappan's birthplace.

Through these operations, under charge of Sanjay Arora and Shankar Bidari, the gang was reduced to 5 members.

Meetings with Gopinatham villagers were held, and the 5-crore bounty was announced.

On 9 April 1993, landmines were detonated underneath the two vehicles in which the team was traveling.

The blast occurred at Palar, near Malai Mahadeswara Hills (present-day Chamarajanagar District, Karnataka) and killed 22 members of the team.

Known as the Palar blast, this was Veerappan's single largest mass killing.

In 1993, the task force arrested Veerappan's wife, Muthulakshmi, and charged her with aiding, but she was acquitted of all charges.

He was also responsible for poaching approximately 500 of the 2000 elephants killed in the peninsular region where he was active and for smuggling ivory worth US$2.6 million (₹16 crore) and about 65 tons of sandalwood worth approximately US$22 million (₹143 crore).

The battle to capture Veerappan cost the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over ₹100 crore.

On 30 June 2000, Veerappan abducted Kannada cinema actor Rajkumar and three others from Dodda Gajanur, a village in Sathyamangalam taluk Erode district near the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, where the film star was attending his housewarming ceremony.

Public outcry and violence ensued in Bangalore as well as other parts of Karnataka.

As of 2004, his two daughters, Vidya Rani (born in 1990) and Prabha (born in 1993), were studying in Tamil Nadu.

He enjoyed support from the Pattali Makkal Katchi party which openly sought for clemency on behalf of Veerappan.

Veerappan began his criminal career by assisting his uncle Saalvai Gounder, a notorious poacher and sandalwood smuggler.

Veerappan initially worked as a sandalwood and ivory smuggler, killing elephants for their tusks.

He later broke away from his uncle.

Over the next 25 years, Veerappan and other poachers together killed 2,000 to 3,000 elephants, with Veerappan and his gang responsible for approximately 500 of them.