Bandit becomes language-policy activist!

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the Deccan Herald, Friday, October 22, 2004

[Listowner note:  One of Veerappan's demands in the kidnapping of the
Kannada filmstar and a Karnataka gov't minister was that official language
status for Tamil be granted in Karnataka State. Veerappan was
recently captured and killed. (hs)]

**************************************************************************

>>From criminal to activist

In the late 90s Veerappan welcomed Tamil extremists to join him, while
they saw this as an opportunity to further their cause.

BY SHIVA KUMAR N D
DH NEWS SERVICE, BANGALORE:


>>From an extraordinary criminal to an extremist, later hailed as a Tamil
protagonist, bandit Veerappan had donned many roles. He was caught between
a fearsome lifestyle, a covert desire to come back to the village he had
relinquished, plea for amnesty and hearsay nobility to fight for the
Tamils.

At 15, he learnt how to loot tusks and sandalwood, later to kill, injure
or threaten those who stood in his way. He plundered 40,000 kg of tusks
worth Rs 12 crore and sandalwood worth Rs 100 cr and killed 123 persons
and injured 67. The excellent rapport he had built with the locals helped
him.

Things turned sour when the Special Task Force (STF) during the early 90s
started acting tough against the forest brigands aides. The STF, led by
Shankar Bidari, after various encounters and arrests, reduced the gangs
strength from 150 and odd to a handful.

In 1996, his nine-hour videotape interview was aired on Sun TV in which he
offered to surrender to the President of India, in exchange for amnesty.
In January 1997, through Nakkeeran magazine, Veerappan offered to
surrender, provided the government payed him compensation and withdrew all
the cases against him. But the government did not respond.

The publicity Veerappan gained thereafter made him a household name.

Hunting for aides

During this time, Veerappans infamy had spread like wildfire and it
attracted Tamil extremists attention. Veerappan, who was on the lookout
for strong aides, welcomed them. For the extremists, association with
Veerappan meant money and pushing their demands through him.

According to STF officers, the outlaw on several occasions, had taken the
help of Tamil Nadu Retrieval Troupe (TNRT) and Tamil Nadu Liberation Army
(TNLA) cadres. In fact, Sethumani, who was killed by STF along with the
bandit, was a member of Tamilar Viduthalai Iyakkam (TVI).

During the kidnapping of former minister H Nagappa, the bandit took the
help of TVI cadres. They also acted as links between the brigand and the
LTTE. However, officials say that Veerappans contact with LTTE leaders or
cadres was not a significant one.

In the chargesheet filed in the court, in connection with the kidnap and
subsequent death of Nagappa, Tamil Nadu STF officers stated: Veerappan has
taken TNRT and TNRA cadres help in abducting his victims. According to
investigation officers, the chief of TVI Ilavarasan sent his men to assist
Veerappan.

With the help of extremist groups, he started abducting VIPs. He was
branded a Tamil activist. During each kidnapping, through his cassettes,
Veerappan started demanding official language status for Tamil and release
of Tamil activist Kolathur Mani. His other demands included unveiling the
Tiruvalluvar statue in Bangalore, referring the Cauvery river dispute to
the International Court of Justice and compensation to the victims of
alleged STF atrocities. This case provides better insight into his links
with the Tamil revolutionaries.

Biggest hauls

In November 2002, in one of the biggest hauls, Bangalore City police
recovered a large quantity of explosives and other detonating devices and
arrested 11 Tamil ultras. The extremists had planned to eliminate several
leaders of the State and trigger a series of blasts. One of the prime
accused, Muthukumar, a member of TNRT was a close associate of Veerappan;
another associate, Vijayamurthy, was trained with PLOTE (Peoples
Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam) member.

In fact it is learnt that the STF had gathered information from
Muthukumar, who is presently in Trichi jail, to capture the bandit.

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oct222004/i7.asp