India Today first wrote about K.M. Veerappan in May 1990 as the "Elusive Bandit". Impossible as it sounds, it took 14 more years to end the life and crimes of one of India's most wanted men. Veerappan remained unrepentant and committed to violence. Even as the price on his head rose every year-it was Rs 5.5 crore at the time of his death-Veerappan didn't flee overseas like Dawood Ibrahim. Unlike Phoolan Devi, he didn't surrender and reinvent himself as a public figure. He stayed hidden, out of sight of the police in three states, but within reach of villages through which he spread his reign of terror..

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He is said to have murdered over 120 people, killed more than 200 tuskers and decimated tracts of sandalwood forest. He had 176 cases filed against him and the manhunt to nab him involved 1,600 policemen from two states and an estimated budget of Rs 20 crore a year.

There is a certain irony in his death: it took the most mundane reason and the oldest ruse to bring him down. He needed medical help and trusted the wrong man to get him to a doctor. Veerappan had his legend but he was no Robin Hood. He was a ruthless criminal, a murderer, a smuggler, a kidnapper and an extortionist, who dodged justice for too long. When justice caught up with him, it showed no mercy. The Veerappan saga shows us that if the state finds the will and the perseverance to pursue hardened criminals, it will eventually succeed.

India Today too has persisted with Veerappan. We got the most detailed profile of the outlaw and obtained exclusive photographs when Managing Editor Raj Chengappa, who anchored this week's cover story, visited the jungles in which he roamed in 1993. So when Stephen David, our principal correspondent based in Bangalore, heard about the success of Operation Cocoon late at night, he immediately set off for Dharmapuri. David, who has covered Veerappan for a decade, put together the cover story with Principal Correspondent Arun Ram in Chennai. Says David: "Veerappan's death ends a chapter of violence and uncertainty for entire communities in the south. You can sense their relief."

We are told there is a Bollywood film called Let's Catch Veerappan in the making. It is now quite redundant. Just as well.

(Aroon Purie)

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