| |
Crime, Veerappan
Bandit King
With
the daring abduction of a film superstar the ageing criminal holds the
ace in his amnesty gambit
By
Vaasanthi and
Stepen David
For the past
two years, India's most wanted bandit had been all but banished from public
memory. Carrying a Rs 50-lakh reward on his head, Koose Muniswamy Veerappan,
54, had earned notoriety by killing elephants for ivory and smuggling
sandalwood. In 1997, however, he sunk to an all-time low when he abducted
a handful of wildlife researchers and foresters in Karnataka. He even
appeared to be going soft when he reportedly wept while releasing the
hostages, though neither Tamil Nadu nor Karnataka had yielded to his amnesty
demands. His once-feared gang was down to a handful and an ailing Veerappan,
with his trademark handle-bar moustache, had almost become a caricature
of his former terrifying self. Both the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu special
task forces -- comprising over 1,000 policemen and formed eight years
ago to nab him -- lowered their guards. That was their biggest mistake.
|
A
KILLER'S CHANGING FACE
|
|
Fitness
Factor
Then:
Had a wiry physique, was nimble-footed, always on the move in the
jungle, would cover more than 50 km in a day.
NOW:
Is 54 years old, suffers from severe asthma and colon ailments.
Movement is restricted, keeps to the dense parts of the forest.
Brother
in Arms
Then:
At the height of his smuggling activities, had a 100-member gang.
Also had a huge network of spies in surrounding villages.
NOW:
His gang has shrunk to 20 members. Even villagers are wary of supporting
him. Relies on help from fringe Tamil terrorist groups.
Crime-Sheet
Then:
Known to have killed 120 persons, including 32 policemen. Killed
200 elephants for ivory. Then turned to sandalwood smuggling.
NOW:
After finishing all the sandalwood trees in the forests, has turned
to extortion of rich local businessmen. Hasn't killed anyone for
a year.
Firepower
Then: At one time, each member of his 100-strong gang had a rifle
and carried a bag of explosives. Had wireless sets stolen from the
police.
NOW:
Has only two military-issue SLRs, one .303 rifle and nine .410 muskets.
Is looking to procure more arms from Tamil ultras.
Frame
of Mind
Then:
Felt invincible. Would proclaim that those who came after him would
only get "bullets and death". Said he would never surrender.
NOW:
Amnesty is foremost on his mind but wants it on his terms. This
abduction is a desperate act to cut a deal before it's too late.
|
For when
Veerappan struck last week, he showed that he had lost nothing of his
cunning, speed and ruthlessness with which he had stalked and killed wild
elephants in the past. He took as his hostage possibly the biggest catch
of his career: Kannada superstar Rajkumar, regarded as the Amitabh Bachchan
of south Indian films. In one swoop, he had both the state Governments
on the mat and exposed just how toothless the law enforcement machinery
was against his daredevil tactics. And in return for the actor's safe
release, he demanded amnesty in all the 135 criminal cases -- including
murders, dacoities, kidnappings and extortions -- registered against him
and in some of which he has already been convicted. In the process, he
regained his infamous title of "bandit king".
That he
meant business was conveyed to both the states in a chilling eight-minute
message recorded on a cassette that Veerappan handed over to Rajkumar's
wife Parvathamma when he abducted the filmstar along with two of his relatives
and a colleague from his house in Gajanur, a remote village on the Tamil
Nadu-Karnataka border. Showing that his knowledge of contemporary weaponry
was not rusted after spending years in the jungle, Veerappan, in staccato
Tamil, boastfully said, "I am not afraid even if you use atom bombs
and missiles." He added, "Don't think I will let off my captives
now, as I have done before."
The menace
in his voice and the high-profile hostage galvanised Karnataka Chief Minister
S.M. Krishna and his Tamil Nadu counterpart M. Karunanidhi. They complied
with his immediate demands, which included suspending search operations
by the special task forces and transferring 59 cases in the Karnataka
courts to Tamil Nadu, where Veerappan feels he may get a more sympathetic
hearing. Then revealing the paucity of options for dealing with the brigand,
the two chief ministers despatched R. Gopal, editor of Tamil weekly, Nakkeeran,
as mediator. Gopal had mediated in the 1997 hostage crisis too and had
even interviewed him, apart from publishing a book on his life.
Meanwhile,
as a protest, Rajkumar's innumerable fans brought life to a standstill
for several days in Karnataka. But Veerappan's strategy of whipping up
Tamil feelings and kidnapping the matinee idol worked against him. With
the south Indian film industry coming out in teary support for the superstar,
there was strong resentment against his tactics in both the states. Local
All India Radio stations broadcast special appeals by Rajkumar's family
to Veerappan, besides airing messages to the 72-year-old star which included
advice that he take his medicines.
As Gopal
entered the thick forests in Malai Mahadeshwara -- a range of hills that
is Veerappan's territory -- it was clear that India's most notorious criminal
had plotted his biggest strike well. With monsoons in full swing, he could
melt into the dense foliage without fear of detection. If he has never
been caught in the past 14 years despite the two states spending Rs 60
crore on the task forces, it is because no one knows the terrain better
than he does. Shankar Bidari, a former head of the Karnataka special task
force, says, "One of his key strengths is the intelligence network
that he has developed over the years and his familiarity with the terrain."
What also hampered the hunt was the total lack of coordination between
the two states, which Veerappan exploited to the hilt.
Despite
his age, Veerappan reportedly maintains a strict regimen. He is extremely
religious and superstitious. Every morning after a bath in a stream, he
prays for 15 minutes. He is a teetotaller and does not smoke. And he enforces
a strict code of conduct on his gang which prohibits them from molesting
women or robbing innocent people. But he can be merciless with those he
perceives as a threat. He is still an ace shot and believes that every
bullet must count. He and his gang have been accused of killing 120 people,
including senior police officers and foresters.
In the mid-'90s,
with the two states chasing him, Veerappan lost much of his strike power
and mobility. More than 60 of his gang members were either killed or arrested
in encounters. To bolster support, he is said to have become involved
with chauvinistic Tamil groups operating on the fringes of the forests,
including Sri Lankan ltte militants.
Rajkumar's
abduction showed that Veerappan continues to be a meticulous planner.
Two years ago, the cinestar who has acted in over 300 films, brushed aside
warnings that the bandit might attempt to kidnap him. Rajkumar's village
is situated in the heart of Veerappan territory and in the past year he
had been building a mansion next to his ancestral house. Only last month,
Rajkumar and his family performed the house-warming ceremony. Veerappan
appeared to have kept tabs on Rajkumar's visits and struck on Sunday night
just after the actor had finished dinner and was settling down to watch
television.
Veerappan
knows that it is only a matter of time before age catches up and he loses
his sting. He is also keen to finally settle down with his wife and daughter
who are currently staying away from him in a Tamil Nadu village. What
he is also seeking is amnesty on the lines of such famous yesteryear bandits
as Phoolan Devi and Malkhan Singh. In the 1997 abduction, Karunanidhi
made all preparations to accommodate Veerappan in Tamil Nadu to enable
him to lead a peaceful life, ostensibly under house arrest. The government
guest-house called Karunachuzhi -- meaning blackhole -- about 69 km from
Chennai, was renovated and kept ready for him. But the plan fell through
when the state found it was not legally feasible to meet his demand of
erasing all his cases without a prison sentence in case of conviction.
Even Phoolan and Malkhan had to spend several years in jail before being
pardoned. The Rs 2 crore that would have gone into maintaining him and
his gang members in secure surroundings was also thought to be exorbitant.
This time
too Veerappan has made similar demands. Now the two state Governments
are faced with an unenviable choice: yield to the bandit and show just
how weak-kneed the Indian state can become or face the consequences of
grievous harm to a superstar and the public outrage over their incompetence.
Either way, they are unlikely to come out winners.
Top
|
|
Can
Bangaru Laxman do for the BJP what Lieberman has done for Al Gore, questions
S. Prasannarajan in
India
should learn the kung-fu of business or get hammered by China after it
joins the WTO, says Sudeep Chakravarti in
"It
is a frustration that India and Pakistan have not grown up enough to pull
their heads out of the sand." Read an exclusive interview with 
