Story Of Veerappan – One Of The World’s Most Dangerous Bandit To Have Ever Lived

There is one thing for certain, whether the people of India are aware of various gangsters, dacoits, bandits and murderers that have wreaked havoc in this country or not, they are aware of the most infamous dacoit, smuggler, kidnapper and killer – Veerappan. Veerappan reigned for around 41 years doing various illegal activities like poaching and smuggling to even kidnapping and murdering, until he was killed in the year 2004. Read on to catch a glimpse of his life events and story.

Birth and early life

Koose Munisamy Veerappan was born on 18th January 1952 to a Saivites Vanniyar family in Gopinatham, Karnataka. His father and other relatives were known to be poachers and smugglers, therefore, Veerappan also took to it at an early age of 10 years.

First animal killing at 10

Veerappan made his first animal killing at a tender age of 10, while assisting the notorious Sevi Gounder in killing animals and smuggling their parts. It is believed that Sevi was highly impressed with Veerappan’s kill that he gave him a personal gun.

Thereafter, he dived into heavy poaching and smuggling ivory along with sandalwood. Gradually, he grew a bigger name in the world of poachers.

First murder at 17

Towards the end of his teens, he became so proficient in his work of illegal activities, that he confidently decided to gun down anyone who blocked his way or was a threat, be it a police office, forest officer or informant. His first human killing was at the age of 17 when he killed a forest guard.

Number of killings

It is believed that in his killing course spreading over 40 years, Veerappan has killed a total of 184 humans and over 2,000 elephants amounting to 88,000 pounds of ivory. He had also killed a lot of forests amounting to 10,000 tonnes of sandalwood. It took a total of 20 years to nab Veerappan along with his accomplices.

Arrests and escape

His first arrested in the year 1972, a few years after the joined the world of crime. His second arrest was in 1986, where he was lodged at a Boodipada forest guest house. However, he soon escaped under mysterious circumstances.

It is believed that once when Special task Force managed to trap him and held him on gun point, he made a phone call to a high-ranking minister and was let off there and then.

Marriage and arrest of wife

Veerappan married Muthulakshmi, who was impressed by his notoriety and moustache. After Veerappan started his career in crime and the police was unable to catch him, the task force arrested his wife in 1993 on charges of aiding, however, she was acquitted soon after.

Veerappan’s Wife Muthulakshmi speaking to a leading news channel said,

“I have no interest in movies on my husband. Many others also made money by killing elephants and smuggling sandalwood. But, only my husband was killed. Those who helped him are still roaming freely”

Veerappan has two daughters Vidya Rani and Prabha.

Incident that brought him to the Indian Government’s attention

He caught the eye of everyone in the year 1987 when he kidnapped Chidambaram, who was a Sathyamangalam District forest officer from Tamil Nadu and eventually hacked him to death. The infamous killing of Pandillapalli Srinivas a senior IFS officer in 1991 and an ambush of apolice party in 1992.

Veerappan did not even hesitate to kill the civilians. He killed many people on being suspected a police informer. It is also believed that he once killed a man from his native village suspecting him to be an informant as he rode along with police officers.

Palar blast- his single largest mass killing

In the year 1993, a 41-member team of police and forestry officers were sent to his supposed hideout in Govindapadi to investigate the killing of a Bandari person by him. However, the attempt was foiled as landmines were detonated underneath the teams’ vehicle and which were blasted off as they reached Malai Mahadeswara Hills, killing 22 officers. The incident came to be known as the Palar Blast.

A 5-Crore Bounty!

By the end of 1992, various operations had been carried out to capture Veerappan, none were successful though. However, soon his gang was reduced to 5 members and a 5-crore bounty was announced for him.

Kidnapped powerful personalities

Veerappan was known to kidnap powerful personalities to make sure his demands were met. The poaching and smuggling fetched him a lot of money, and with money comes power, which made him escape roadblocks related to kidnappings and getting caught. He made a lot of contacts with people and officials of high hierarchy.

In July 2000, Veerappan kidnapped south Indian actor Rajkumar from a village where he had gone to attend a house-warming ceremony. This outraged the people leading to a bandh/strike in Bangalore and the pressure on the government to capture Veerappan gained new heights! In ransom, Veerappan demanded Tamil to be made second official language of Karnataka, a release of some Tamil extremists who were in prison along with justice for Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery Water Dispute. However, it is believed that after being paid a hefty ransom of 20 crore rupees, he released Rajkumar after 108 days, unharmed.

In August 2002, former minister of Karnataka, H Nagappa was kidnapped from his village house in Chamarajanagar district. However, encounter led by the Joint Special Task Forces of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, failed to rescue Nagappa, which ultimately led to his body being found three months later.

It is believed that for several years during the 90s, Veerappan had kidnapped many police officers and known personalities, for which the ransoms were unofficially paid. One such count is of 9 forest officials in the Burude forests in Chamarajanagar district in July 1997, and all the hostages were let off unharmed.

In 2002, the police recovered a total of 3.3 million rupees from his gang members, which was apparently buried at various parts of the forest.

A unique ransom

However, one different ransom that he demanded was in the year 1994 when his wife was in police custody. He kidnapped a few forest officials and demanded that an audio recording of his wife’s voice be sent through one of his accomplices. The demand was obliged and soon the officials were released unharmed.

It is believed that it took that many years (decades) to capture Veerappan as he knew the forest regions like the back of his hand and managed to escape every attempt. As told by one of his gang members, he was so used to the forests that he could name the animal by the sounds of leaves being crushed under their feet/paws.

Operation Cocoon- Death of Veerappan

On 18th October 2004, an undercover policeman lured Veerappan and his accomplices into an ambulance on the pretext of taking them to Dharmapuri for medical treatment. The Tamil Nadu Special Task Force surrounded the vehicle and the dacoits were finally nabbed. Veerappan’s associates Chandre Gowdar, Sethukuli Govindan and Sethumani were also killed in the operation. Veerappan’s body was buried at Moolakkadu near Mettur in Tamil Nadu.

Upon news of his death, it is believed that firecrackers marked the celebrations among the villagers of Gopinatham.