Elusive trail
an elephant poacher-turned-sandalwood smuggler, Veerappan has used his intimate knowledge of the territory and his influence and terror among the locals to avoid capture. Over the years he has extracted a heavy price from the state of Karnataka. Crores of rupees have been spent, and 32 police personnel and 10 forest officers have lost their lives, apart from 77 locals.
Seen as a sort of hero by villagers and tribals of the area, he hasn't spared even them when he thought it was necessary. Suspected police informers and competitors have been ruthlessly eliminated, as have police parties. Even police stations were not safe: he attacked the Ramapura police station in May 1992.
Initially operating in a 6,000 sq km area that encompassed thickly wooded forests of the two states, Veerappan had increased his area of operation by another 2,000 sq km. Police estimates that he has killed about 2,000 elephants and has smuggled sandalwood worth around Rs 100 crore out of the jungles. While this claim is disputed by many, most agree that this killer's reign must end. "If a man has amassed Rs 100 crore, why should he live the life of desperado? Iwould imagine that he would buy himself a new identity and live a comfortable life,'opines Rajgopal.
"Serious efforts to nab Veerappan began in May 1990, with the formation of the stf , after he had ambushed a police party and killed three police sub-inspectors on the Gopinatham-Hogenekal road,' says T Madiyal, the current additional director-general police (law & order), Karnataka.
Madiyal had been chief of the Karnataka stf between June 1991 and December 1992. The stf has its headquarters at Mahadeshwara Malai Hills (M M Hills), which is in Kollegal taluka . Veerappan's village, Gopinatham, is around 45 km from M M Hills.
Close encounters
By the time the stf was set up, Veerappan had already killed one regional forest officer, four forest watchers, three members of the public, at least seven other poachers and three sub-inspectors. The stf was involved in a number of raids on Veerappan's hideouts, and seized elephant tusks and sandalwood. They also