Big-moustachioed Veerappan, once a terror of Tamil Nadu-Karnataka forests, was a sharpshooter, who never missed his target.
His plans were sharp, detailed and flawless. But once, he committed three mistakes, and they proved fatal for him.
As web series of the day revisit the now infamous hunt for the hunter, we recall Content Editor of Manorama Online R Krishna Raj's account of how the notorious elephant hunter was slain back then.
Krishna Raj visited Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu the day Veerappan was gunned down, and investigated the events that led to the fall of the dreaded forest brigand.
This is the first of the two-part investigative report.
The Special Task Force (STF) that killed Veerappan near Padi in Dharmapuri has been facing one question ever since October 18, 2004 night. "Was Veerappan poisoned to death?"
A web series released the other day, too, shot the same question at Senthamarakannan, the Superintendent of Police, who was part of the STF. "Veerappan was killed by the STF. I leave it to your imagination how he was killed," he replied.
K Vijay Kumar, who headed the STF, too, had faced the same question. "Didn't he deserve to be killed," the now-retired IPS officer had then responded. The STF has explained how Veerappan was killed, but why do the questions linger? Why is it that the stories being peddled are similar to a recent Malayalam investigative thriller?
The series is a search for answers to questions that still haunt the STF. The first part deals with the stories of Veerappan and the STF that trapped him.
Together in life and death
Koose Munisamy Veerappan was lying supine, helpless on the post-mortem table in the mortuary of the District Hospital in Dharmapuri. His face bore bullet wounds. Veerappan's constant companions Govindan, Chandra Gowda and Sethumani, too, were there, still and slain. A 40-year-long hunt had come to an end.
Veerappan was without his trademark moustache, which over the years had become his identity, in death. The moustache-less Veerappan looked helpless, sporting the look of a fugitive who was caught after a long run. Parts of his shirt — the colour, green or maroon, was not easily distinguished in the dim light — could be seen through the sides of the shroud.
As the news of Veerappan's death spread, people from the nearby villages arrived at the morgue in hordes. Their intention was not to see the forest brigand, but to confirm that he had been killed. Still, some of them were not convinced even after seeing the body.
The STF killed Veerappan and his aides in an encounter on October 18, 2004. However, people are searching for the unknown chapters of his life even today.
The Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills were Veerappan's abode, where he left a trail of blood while in hiding. For 40 years, he remained a riddle, a stigma for authorities. The police closed Veerappan's file on a 2004 October night, even as the world opened another, recording the life and death of the forest brigand.
A trap for a trap
The recent web series has given rise to a doubt: Is Veerappan being portrayed as a latter-day Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw of English folklore, who lived in the Sherwood forest along with his band of bandits? The villagers who had descended on the Dharmapuri District Hospital on that October night 19 years ago, did not have such a doubt.
Even as the villagers craved their necks to confirm and re-confirm Veerappan's death, a group of people pushed them aside to see the body. They were members of the police and task force members. Once confirmed, they whooped aloud from the hospital premises. Meanwhile, the victory celebrations at the STF camp, too, went beyond limits.
The day after Veerappan was killed, officer Vijay Kumar went to the Bannariyamman temple in Dharmapuri and tonsured his head. He had earlier vowed to god that he would tonsure his head if he could catch Veerappan. The STF members danced, carrying Vijaya Kumar on their shoulders. Karnataka STF team, too, joined them, though they were slightly disappointed.
Veerappan had caused much damage to the Karnataka STF. However, the search for Veerappan, which commenced in 1962, by the police forces of two states had then come to an end. However, by then, they had lost many dedicated officers like P Sreenivas, Harikrishna, Shakeel Ahmed, and others. Veerappan had snared them to death — and he too met with a similar fate.
Tamil Nadu's super cop Walter Issac Devaram had earlier failed in apprehending the dreaded brigand. Vijay Kumar succeeded where Devaram had failed.
Free run for 40 years ends in 20 minutes
As the night progressed, the crowd started swelling at Padi, some 12 km from the district Hospital. The news that the STF had gunned down Veerappan and associates had spread. However, the fact that Veerappan was killed inside the forest sparked several questions.
Various STFs had earlier searched the forest for the elusive brigand. Veerappan had twice landed in their custody, but he deftly escaped. Later, the police had reached close to his hideout several times. Devaram's team even engaged Veerappan and his gang in a gun battle. Though three gangsters were shot, Veerappan escaped.
Immediately taking charge of the STF, Vijay Kumar changed the strategy. The plan was to place moles in Veerappan's gang, and somehow, bring him out of the forest. The plan worked.
Veerappan, who boarded an ambulance from his hideout, was intercepted and shot dead at Pachinappatti Padi. The scene answered several questions. A sugarcane-laden lorry, a police lorry fortified with sandbags called seedbox in ambush parlance, and an ambulance with SKS Hospital, 'Selam', emblazoned on its body were at the scene.
Unnoticed spelling mistake
Did Veerappan breathe his last in the ambulance, which had 'Salem' painted wrong on his body? The vehicle had received 338 bullets.
The ATF later said Veerappan was lured out of the forest promising to take him to the SKS Hospital for testing his eyes. Didn't Veerappan notice Salem misspelt on the ambulance? The seedbox parked opposite the ambulance, too, was riddled with bullets.
DySP Mohan Nawas was still in the vehicle. The ambulance driver Saravanan and crew member Velladurai had by then left for the STF camp with Vijay Kumar. Velladurai was a known encounter specialist, and Saravanan was Vijay Kumar's driver.
At daybreak, the police covered the ambulance with a rust-coloured tarpaulin since the villagers had started inspecting the vehicle. Some even started counting the bullet marks on the ambulance.
Soon, a debate broke out over the disparity in bullet marks found on the police vehicle and the ambulance. Was there an encounter? Did Veerappan's gang retaliate? The questions kept coming.
At 10 am on October 19, Vijay Kumar shared the details of the hunt for Veerappan, codenamed Operation Cocoon. The police were aware of Veerappan's ill health, and they also knew that he was trying to seek medical care. The STF infiltrated the gang and convinced Veerappan of medical treatment in Sri Lanka with the LTTE's help.
The brigand had boarded the ambulance for the promised medical treatment, oblivious of the STF laying in wait for him at Padi. After stopping the vehicle, the gang was ordered to surrender. They opened fire in response, and the police retaliated, killing Veerappan and his associates, the police explained.
But still, why are people still probing the encounter?
Human with fox's brain
SP Mohan Nawas, who retired from the STF, described Veerappan as a "human with a fox's brain. "This is how we describe him. He was nothing beyond a human with a fox's brain," the officer who had chased Veerappan for years said.
Nawas, with roots in Pathanamthitta in Kerala, began his service as a sub-inspector in the Satyamangalam, Dharmapuri region. Naturally, the hunt for Veerappan became a part of his life. He had established a friendly relationship with the people and worked under different STF leaders. Soon, Veerappan identified Nawas as his enemy.
The forest brigand offered a bounty of Rs 10 lakh to anyone who would show him Nawas's residence. He waited for the officer at Aerasipalayam for seven days. Though he emptied three rounds into Nawas's head while he was travelling in a jeep, the young officer survived and vowed to get married only after capturing Veerappan.
On October 18, Veerappan was killed. Nawas, however, did not return home but joined the hunt for Maoists. After Veerappan, the Maoists, too, chose their hideouts in the forest. Nawas is still in Coimbatore. The STF had learnt much during their hunt for the forest brigand.
Cruelty personified
Nawas remembers Veerappan as a 'cruel elephant hunter'. "We had reached his hideout several times, and they are still fresh in the mind," the officer said.
Veerappan used to sell ivory for even Rs 5,000. He found pleasure in killing elephants. After shooting down the tusker, he used to stand on top of it and guffaw. He then severed the trunk even as the animal screamed in pain. He would also scream, trying to match the animal. He then used an axe to take the tusks. He was cruelty personified.
"Veerappan knew the forest better than us. He and his gang would escape as we close in. We reached his hideouts several times and realised that he had escaped in the nick of time. We found rice and sambar there," Nawas said.
His turf spread over a vast area from Hogenakkal in Dharmapuri to the forests near Walayar. "The STF changed its strategy in 2002, after realising that it was almost impossible to apprehend him inside the dense forest. The plan was to somehow confine him to the fringes. We kept chasing him, driving him to the Palar forest near the river Cauvery," the officer said.
Veerappan was confined to a small area, which had the Palar forest to the south and the river Cauvery to its west. Meanwhile, cataracts had covered his eyes. Travelling at night became impossible. It was around this time that he decided to seek medical help.
The STF mole convinced Veerappan to get the cataract surgery done; eventually the forest brigand boarded the police vehicle redone as an ambulance, with SKS Hospital, 'Selam', emblazoned on its body.
How did Veerappan fall into the police trap? The question is relevant since a series of back-to-back mistakes led to his ultimate downfall. How did the STF trap Veerappan? Did a hit investigative movie in Malayalam take inspiration from the hunt for Veerappan? All about them in part two.
