Fatal mistakes that led to Veerappan's doom
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'Animal hunting' often refers to animals of prey that lay in wait and then launch a surprise ambush. Veerappan's guerrilla warfare, too, was similar, and he showed no mercy while hunting. Like some animals that hide their scat, Veerappan, too, left no trail. Still, he lost focus and was trapped.
Police surgeons who conducted the postmortem examination of Veerappan's body were left in awe: A healthy pair of lungs, not even a trace of tobacco stain. The body showed no signs of any diseases. Cholesterol was nil. The arteries were free of fat. The surgeons could not believe that they were conducting the autopsy of a criminal's body.
Veerappan never missed the target while hunting elephants. He had the same disciplined focus in life as well. And it helped him in evading arrest for decades.
How did Veerapan get a pair of such healthy, unpolluted lungs?
The answer was simple. He filled his lungs with the fresh air in the forest, drank from the streams, and walked at least 40 km a day. His life was not like that of an ordinary criminal. It was a disciplined one. Veerappan was not addicted to alcohol or drugs. He ate food cooked in his hideouts. Why was he so particularly disciplined? When did he lose focus?
Authorities believe that Veerappan's discipline was not just to maintain a healthy body. It was also to avoid being sighted by the rivals. He knew Special Task Forces (STFs) of the two states were after him. The two states had shelled out Rs 220 crore to hunt down the elusive brigand. They pressed into action more than 2,000 expert STF personnel, helicopters and thermal scanners.
Still, Veerappan remained hidden inside the thick forest. He never let his focus stray. The STF would get the smell if he smoked. The smell would lead them to his hideout. He bought food from outside only while holding Kannada thespian Rajkumar hostage. It, too, had a reason. The smoke while cooking would compromise his safe location.
Animals hide their scat to prevent other animals from finding them. It is the law of the jungle. If Veerappan had followed the rule, the STF might not have found his camp in the dense forests of MM Hills.
The mistakes he made
"Not one, he committed a series of mistakes, and it cost him his life," Superintendent of Police (STF) Mohan Nawas recalled while listing out the follies Veerappan had committed.
"He stayed in a hut in t. He took photographs and recorded videos along with his associates and they were published. And finally, he trusted that promise to get medical aid outside the forest," the officer said.
Minchuguli was 25 km from the nearest human habitation. "One has to trek three mountains to reach there. No one else had reached there before. Veerappan's routine was different once inside the forest. He won't stay in one place for long. He walked up to 40 km a day.
His gang then had 137 members, including women and children. He camped at Minchuguli believing that no one would reach there. But it was not the case.
"One day, we came across human excreta while patrolling deep inside the forest. It was dark like those who regularly eat finger millet. The excreta of those feeding on rice would be yellow. The sighting made up suspect that Veerappan was close by. During the search that followed, we found huts on the mountain opposite us," Nawas said.
"We saw them through our binoculars. An attack on them would not be successful since only three others were with me. We left the forest that day itself and returned the next day with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka STFs and BSF. In the fierce battle that followed, a few people were killed, and others were captured. Veerappan's gang shrunk to eight from 137. It further came down to five and then two," the officer said.
On the night of October 18, 2004, the entire gang was eradicated. Sighting his gang at Manchi Kuli was the turning point in the hunt for Veerappan.
The forest brigand's one mistake led the STF to him. He brought a photographer from outside and clicked photographs along with his associates. These photographs were sent out as well.
"We received information about the photographs, and we identified his associates. We put the families of Veerappan's associates under surveillance. We came to know of Veerappan's movements through them. He should have posed alone for the photographs. At least the associates could have masked their faces," Nawas explained how the STF kept track of Veerappan's movements.
The Minchuguli battle scattered Veerappan's gang. Soon he was left with only three people and cataract. He was forced to trust the mole who promised treatment, the officer recalled.
Drishyam-2 and Operation Cocoon
After three years, the STF realised that apprehending Veerappan inside the forest would be difficult. They made two attempts to bring him outside. The first one failed. However, the STF succeeded in their second attempt.
SP Senthamarakannan had prepared the ground to facilitate a rendezvous between Veerappan and his wife Muthulakshmi at Kothagiri in Ooty. Muthulakshmi was lodged in a house in Coimbatore. A woman neighbour became close to Muthulakshmi and won her trust. The STF decided to exploit this friendship and planned a rendezvous between the couple.
The plan was to gun him down when he would arrive to meet Muthulakshmi. However, it did not work as planned. The STF then decided to infiltrate Veerappan's gang and bring him outside the forest on the pretext of providing medical care.
As part of the plan, an STF officer bought a house in a forest-fringe village and won the confidence of the villagers. It has been believed that this move helped the STF to win over one of Veerappan's associates.
ADGP K Vijay Kumar, who led the STF, has mentioned the aide, codenamed 'trader', in his book, Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand. However, the STF has not so far confirmed that one of their officers had lived in the village as part of the hunt for Veerappan.
The popular Malayalam movie, Drishyam-2, too, has a similarity with Veerappan hunt. Two police officers, posing as a couple, lived next to Mohanlal's house and learnt about the murder. However, director Jeethu Joseph denied adopting from the Veerappan hunt. He said the movie banked on a few foreign investigative thrillers.
Foreign movies are the basis for the argument that Veerappan was poisoned to death. Such movies have depicted the police planting moles in the rival's gang, who slow-poisons the target and brings him out of his redoubt promising medical treatment for his failing health.
Vijay Kumar, however, said in his book that the news of Veerappan's cataract surprised them.
MGR's son-in-law
"MGR's son-in-law is frequenting this place," Vijay Kumar quoted Veerappan in his book. There was then a talk in Tamil Nadu that the STF chief Vijay Kumar was the son-in-law of former chief minister MG Ramachandran. However, it was not true. MGR's father and Vijay Kumar's grandfather lived almost in the same neighbourhood in Kerala.
Vijay Kumar was as shrewd as Veerappan. He stayed in the forest. He rolled out welfare initiatives, such as medical camps, in villages where Veerappan had an influence, and won the confidence of the villagers. The 'Trader' was one among them.
After eliminating Veerappan, Vijay Kumar tonsured his head at the Bannariyamman temple in Dharmapuri. His next destination was Pallassanakaavu in Palakkad. Pallassanakaavu temple trustee Mahesh Pazhayakaavu said Vijaya Kumar has his roots in Pallassana.
Former DGP Tomin J Thachankary recalled that Veerappan had reached the Semanthimala area near Walayar after abducting Rajkumar. Thachankary was then the district police chief in Palakkad. Veerappan's turf had stretched from Hogenakkal to Semanthimala.
"The police had then searched Semathimala and found signs of Veerappan's presence. They found tarpaulin sheets and leftover food," he said.
Veerappan sold most of the ivory via Sulthan Bathery. The STF even arrested three people from the Sulthan Bathery area.
Veerappan's successors
The question of Veerappan's successor never arose when he had a free run. The gang never had a second-in-command. The STF was successful in preventing anyone from taking up the brigand's role after his death. Even after eliminating Veerappan, the STF continued in the area, hunting for Maoists.
Several people searched the forest after rumours said Veerappan had buried his wealth in plastic bags. But Veerappan's real successors were the tuskers of MM Hills.
Veerppan had killed more than 1,000 bull elephants in 40 years. He had even boasted that the remaining tusker in the forest was in its mother's womb. During Veerappan days, the number of tuskers had come down to one per 200 cow elephants. However, the situation changed after 2004.
Today the MM Hills forests have one tusker per 10 cow elephants.
This is the second part of a series on Veerappan.
Read Part 1 here: Revisiting life and death of forest brigand Veerappan almost two decades on.