Veerapan
| Veerappan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
18 January 1952 Gopinatham, Karnataka |
| Died | 18 October 2004 (aged 52) Papparapatti, Tamil Nadu |
| Cause of death | Firearm |
| Resting place | Moolakadu, Tamil Nadu |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Known for | Sandalwood smuggling |
| Spouse(s) | Muthulakshmi (m. 1990) |
| Children | 2 |
|
Reward amount
|
₹5 crore (equivalent to ₹13 crore or US$2.1 million in 2016) |
|
Capture status
|
Killed |
| Escaped | 1986 |
| Escape end | 2004 |
| Comments | ₹784 crore (equivalent to ₹21 billion or US$330 million in 2016) spent to capture |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 184 people (97 of them are police officials & forest officers), 900 elephants |
|
Span of killings
|
1962–2002 |
| State(s) | Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, |
Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004), commonly known only as Veerappan, was a notorious Indian brigand and dacoit. He was active for nearly 30 years in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Veerappan was a member of the Vanniyar community. Veerappan married Muthulakshmi who reportedly appreciated his "notoriety and moustache" and married him because of that. As of 2004, his two daughters, Vidya Rani (born c. 1990) and Prabha (born c. 1993), were studying in Tamil Nadu.
Veerappan started as an assistant to his relative Saalvai Gounder, a notorious poacher and sandalwood smuggler. His father and relatives, whose village lay in the forest area, were also known to be poachers and smugglers. Veerappan began his career in crime in 1970 and was first arrested in 1972.
Veerappan initially developed as a sandalwood and ivory smuggler, killing elephants for the latter. He later started killing those who resisted his activities. He committed his first murder at the age of 17 and his victims tended to be police officers, forest officials, and informants.
In 1987, Veerappan kidnapped and murdered a forest officer named Chidambaram from Tamil Nadu. This first brought him to the Indian Government's attention. Among his best-known killings are a senior IFS officer named Pandillapalli Srinivas in November 1991, and an ambush of a police party including a senior IPS officer, Harikrishna, among others, in August 1992.
Veerappan was not averse to killing civilians, and killed a man from his native village for having once travelled in a police jeep. He regularly killed anyone suspected of being a police informer. Because of political instability, Veerappan could easily escape from one state to another.
In Govindapadi, Mettur, Veerappan killed a Bandari suspected of being a police informer, and a 41-member team of police and forestry officials was called in. On 9 April 1993, a landmine was detonated against the two vehicles this team was travelling in. The blast occurred at Palar, near Malai Mahadeswara Hills, present Chamarajanagar District, Karnataka, and killed 22 members of the team. Known as the Palar blast, this was his single largest mass killing.
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Wikipedia