End of an affair

?M ost Wanted? for the last 17 years by both the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka police, and with a reward of Rs 10 crore on his head, K.M. Veerappan finally lies buried in a small sandy patch on the foothills of Sendra Perumal Malai near Mettur. In an intelligence operation that the Tamil Nadu special task force commandant, K.Vijayakumar, terms as ?extraordinary?, Veerappan, and the last remnants of his gang, were amazingly lured away from the jungle terrain in which he had so long proved elusive and invincible. With Vijayakumar at the head of the hit-team, backed by a 60-strong STF contingent, the plot that unfolded had all the elements of a thriller.

The centrepiece of the play was a decoy vehicle, converted into an ambulance and driven by an STF constable. It was there apparently to get Veerappan out of the forest to visit a doctor in the town nearby, but actually to ?cocoon? him in the vehicle. Operation Cocoon ended with the STF chief informing the the Tamil Nadu chief minister, J. Jayalalithaa, that the operation had been successful. By midnight, Amma was declaring proudly how the STF?s ?splendid operation had rid Tamil Nadu of a scourge which had defied solution for more than a decade.?

Notwithstanding the gaps in the official version, what made this operation possible is a cluster of factors that allowed four STF personnel to successfully ?infiltrate? Veerappan?s inner circle last year. They came back with a ?wealth of information?, particularly on the intra-group rifts and Veerappan?s growing medical problems, which the STF was able to use in executing its plan.

Equally important is the fact that in the last two years or so, the STF managed to put behind it the notorious phase of excesses against the local population when its combing operations were at their peak and when any suspect could be held under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.

Now the villagers of Gopinatham ? the brigand?s birthplace and the heartland of the Veerappan territory bordering Tamil Nadu and Karnataka ? are rejoicing the brigand?s death quietly and are feeling tremendously relieved that the Shani has at last left their lives. Yet they are still wary and dazed by the STF?s presence.

Despite its reputation, the STF recently managed to earn a soft spot in the hearts of the local tribal population after it went in for regular medical camps and social service activities, particularly in the heart of that area. It helped the STF to strengthen its intelligence network in a big way.

It is in this backdrop that one could try to ?deconstruct? the Veerappan story to unlock the deeper maladies of our civil society. Starting as a small-time poacher in 1978, Veerappan, according to police records, killed 2,000 tuskers in the dense forests of both the states. Initially small, his gang soon swelled as more locals of a poverty-stricken backward area were lured into this lucrative racket. Veerappan then took to sandalwood smuggling, making pots of money both for himself and his political benefactors, before daring to take to the high-profile crime of kidnapping VIPs in the mid-Nineties. He even tried to espouse the cause of Tamil nationalism.

Veerappan is alleged to have killed at least 124 persons, including civilians, police and forest officials. Veerappan simultaneously built a network among locals to supply him with the essentials on a cash-for-commodity basis. But he also got inextricably entangled into a vicious cycle of revenge killings, eliminating anybody whom he suspected of having informed the police and forest officials about his movements and activities.

This started in a small but deadly way in his own native village, amidst his own kith and kin, as Veerappan tried to go up the social ladder in the Vanniyar community. A sudden marriage to Muthulakshmi, her subsequent arrest in the forest in 1993, and the death of his younger brother, Arjunan, at the hands of the STF, may have prompted the wily Veerappan to lower his guard.

For the first time in early 1996, Veerappan spoke to two Tamil journalists not only about police atrocities but also about his personal life that took away much of the mystery surrounding the bandit. The Tamil bi-weekly, Nakeeran, went to town with this story, and followed it up with the editor?s meeting with Veerappan. The video footage about his jungle life and habitat, his intimate knowledge of plants and animals and suchlike gave Veerappan a Robin Hood-type image.

That was a turning point as the larger world got to know the ?human side? of Veerappan. The proximity of Nakeeran?s editor, R.R. Gopal, to M. Karunanidhi did not go unnoticed either. In fact, Gopal was the official emissary during the sensational abduction of Veerappan?s prize catch ? the popular Kannada actor, Rajkumar ? in July 2000.

That episode and the subsequent abduction and killing of the former Karnataka minister, Nagappa, in August 2002, exposed the links between Veerappan and some Tamil extremist outfits like the Tamil National Liberation Army. The nexus, however, was underplayed as Veerappan?s espousing of the Tamil cause over Cauvery waters gave him a thin ideological veneer, never mind if that was far removed from the bandit?s concerns.

However, before Veerappan graduated to being a full-fledged mainstream politician, like Phoolan Devi, a resolute and daring STF caught up with him. The STF?s success with Veerappan has enabled Jayalalithaa to move into a politically confident position after her party?s worst poll debacle in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Even a dead Veerappan has his uses.