Indian police kill notorious bandit
Had been accused of over 100 deaths
BANGALORE, India -- Police have shot dead India's most wanted bandit, Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, accused of chopping up many of the more than 100 people he killed, officials said yesterday.
Veerappan, who operated from southern jungles and was believed to have ties with Tamil militants that officials said extended to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, hit world headlines in 2000 when he held film star Rajkumar hostage for 108 days.
The bandit, who was in his 50s, sported a long twirling moustache, wore military camouflage, and had bloodshot eyes. He was dubbed the "Jungle Cat" for his deep knowledge of the forests and his ability to imitate wild animal sounds.
Government officials hailed his killing as a major success, having offered a bounty of 5 million rupees, or about $109,000 -- a high reward by Indian standards.
"It is with a sense of pride and fulfilment that I wish to announce . . . the good news that the notorious forest brigand, bandit, murderer, and dacoit Veerappan, along with his entire gang, has been shot dead," said the chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Jayaram Jayalalithaa.
"Dacoit" is a word used in India to describe robbers who operate in gangs.
Jayalalithaa said three members of Veerappan's gang were also killed in the shootout last night.
Veerappan was once seen by local people as a modern-day Robin Hood and eluded troops and police in the vast jungles straddling the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for more than a decade.
Indian media reports said he chopped rivals into pieces before throwing them into rivers, killed policemen as they slept, and once beheaded a senior forest official.
The shootout took place in a Tamil Nadu village 6 miles from the town of Dharmapuri, about 75 miles southeast of Bangalore, capital of Karnataka, where Veerappan's gang was traveling in a vehicle, Jayalalithaa said. He said Veerappan did not respond to a call to surrender and fired instead, leading to the shootout.
In December 2002, a regional politician was found dead after three months as a captive of Veerappan. An audio cassette message from Veerappan, a Tamil from Tamil Nadu state, denied responsibility for the death of H. Nagappa, 66, a former minister in the state government of Karnataka, and blamed police for a shootout. Authorities dismissed the charge.
Veerappan was also accused of killing thousands of elephants for their tusks and smuggling sandalwood and ivory worth millions of dollars.
Much of his weaponry, including automatic rifles and sophisticated binoculars, was plundered from police units he attacked.
The gang allegedly staged ambushes, made bombs, and planted land mines that blew up buses carrying police.
