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THE
FINAL ASSAULT?
THE
QUARRY
Strength: Veerappan's gang is 30 strong. It is backed by some Tamil
militants.
Weapons: Continues to rely on .303s and old self-loading rifles.
Has a few AK-47s. And explosives.
Strategy: Moves silently and swiftly. Great network of informants.
Always keeps a step ahead of the task force.
THE
HUNTERS
Strength: Together the two STFs have 700 commandos who move
in groups of 20. Has backing of the reserve police.
Weapons: Light machine guns, Ak-47s, self-loading rifles,
grenade launchers, night-vision binoculars and hand's free wireless sets.
Strategy: Revamp intelligence and surveillance set-up; improved
training of commandos; small assault teams to methodically comb forests
and go for the kill.
THEATRE OF OPERATIONS
6,000 sq km of hilly terrain largely cloaked in inaccessible, thick tropical
forests inested with wildlife and spanning three states.
SURVEILLANCE
Regular air surveys like those on India's borders to detect his camps
and pin his location rapidly.
MAPPING
Detailed satellite images of the terrain to assist the task forces to
comb the area far more effectively.
TRAINING
Task forces want Central help to train personnel in jungle warfare and
also send in ITPB or NSG.
FLOODING
STRATEGY
Have 100 groups of 20 commandos each that will flood the 6,000 sq km of
forests with armed personnel and move in a systematic grid pattern to
close in on the outlaw.
MONITORING
Strict watch on Tamil militants associated with him and track them to
detect his whereabouts.
HELICOPTERS
Central help needed for armed choppers taht can move personnel quickly
or bring additional men.
STF
BRIEF HISTORY
After Veerappanincreased his poaching activity and murdered several forest
guards and police officers, the two states set up special task forces
in 1990 drawn from local police.
1991
Forester P. Srinivas weans away teh bandit's gang members, including his
brother Arjunan. Veerappan beheads him.
1992
Karnataka STF chief T. Harikrishna and his deputy Shakeel Ahmed killed
in an ambush by Veerappan's gang.
1993
Veerappan kills 22 Tamil Nadu STF men and injures S. Gopalakrishnan, its
chief. Two states launch joint operations.
1995-96
Systematic pursuit sees Veerappan's gang reduced to a handful. But forces
fail to go in for the kill partly because of politics.
1997
Just when everyone had forgotten him, Veerappan abducts foresters as hostages.
Releases them after negotiations.
2000
Veerappan makes his biggest strike by kidnapping filmstar Rajkumar. STF
suspends operations till the drama is over.
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Orthodoxy in economic thought is as odious as obscurantism in the socio-religious context. INDIA TODAY Associate Editor, V Shankar Aiyar, offers a contrarian take on the stock markets and the cause and the impact of policy and practice. 