Who is the sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, who has killed three thousand elephants? Veerappan, known as the king of sandalwood smuggling, has killed innumerable police officers and has approximately 154 murder cases against him. The Karnataka and Kerala governments spent Rs 220 crores to search for Veerappan.
But Veerappan’s people refer to him as their family god. Let’s see what happened to Veerappan. You can find details about what happened to Veerappan in this article. First, let’s explore his last minutes and last seconds.
Veerapan’s Last Moments
338 bullets were fired at Veerappan, causing panic in the Kerala and Karnataka governments. Sethukuli Govindan, who is Veerapan’s best friend protected him till the last moment. It has been more than 20 years since this event took place, but it is still remembered as a significant and memorable incident.
Various stories are told about Veerappan, who was born in 1952. Initially, Veerappan became involved in this activity to assist his uncle, who was engaged in sandalwood smuggling. The reason for Veerappan’s involvement in the first place was to aid his relatives who were carrying out sandalwood smuggling. Usually, when we think of sandalwood smuggling, we focus on the smuggler, but we often neglect to discuss the buyers.
Veerapan’s Childhood
From his childhood, Veerappan was aware of how the police and middle officials bypassed the activity, and he observed how sandalwood and ivory were smuggled and sold. Veerappan started observing all these activities from a young age. There is a story that tells of Veerappan killing an elephant at the age of 12.
Veerappan, who had learned all the ins and outs of sandalwood smuggling, gradually rose to the point of selling it on his own and sharing the profit with his gang. The smuggling and sale of very large quantities of sandalwood created a significant impact in India, attracting the attention of the police and government officials.
| Also Read: Koose Munisamy Veerappan Review |
Veerapan’s Crime
Sandalwood trees were highly protected by the government. As far as Veerappan was concerned, cutting and selling sandalwood was not a crime. He justified his actions by stating that he was in that forest and questioned, ‘What is wrong with me cutting and selling the trees?’ Veerappan argued, ‘I am cutting and selling trees from my forest. What is wrong with this?’ Veerappan didn’t limit himself to selling only sandalwood; he also traded in elephant tusks. Moreover, the police officers who attempted to apprehend Veerappan disappeared one by one. After a few days, their bodies were recovered.
So, as the case escalated and police officers were killed, Veerapan’s relatives and friends of the group were questioned by the police. Meanwhile, Veerappan took control of the fort, and he, along with his team, managed the details of the entire forest.
Veerappan had control over the entire 14,000-square-kilometer forest, which was not an ordinary thing. This wasn’t just a problem for Tamil Nadu; it extended to the forests of Karnataka and Kerala. Since the forests had no boundaries, all three states were affected. Consequently, both the Karnataka and Kerala governments formed a special task force to capture Veerappan. However, it took 20 years to apprehend him.
About Veerapan’s Skills
Veerappan, who had great faith in God, would visit any temple for worship and leave the place without leaving any evidence. No one knew about the Sathyamangalam forest and surrounding areas in the world as much as Veerappan knew.
He lived there without a trace of cooking and ate food. Veerappan is highly skilled, if a snake bites in the forest, he can identify the type of snake by analyzing that bite mark. Not only that, Veerappan can detect people coming from a distance by the sound of birds.
Veerapan’s Friendship
Beyond all these things, Veerappan had a friendship similar to that depicted in the RRR film. That friend was Sethukuli Govindan, who was very fond of Veerappan. Sethukuli Govindan went to see Veerappan as his name was very popular. Veerappan’s photo was not published for many years.
When he first saw Veerappan, he was very impressed. He liked Veerappan so much that he joined him in his work, almost like being his son. They both have similar looks, whether it’s their mustache, style, or overall appearance. They look very much alike.
Govindan’s dad lost his eyesight because he got old, and his mom worked in the forest. Despite this, Govindhan supported Veerapan without caring much about his parents. He stayed with Veerapan until the very end because he thought Veerappan might be in danger if he was left alone. When Govindan found out that some officers, pretending to be someone else, had come to catch Veerappan, he killed them right there on the spot.
Veerapan’s Death, Operation Cocoon
On October 18, 2004, the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force, led by K Vijayakumar under the command of N. K. Senthamarai Kannan, killed Veerappan and three of his associates. The encounter took place near the village of Papparapatti in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu.
In 1991, the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka led a costly operation, called the Special Task Force (STF) operation, to capture Veerappan, a notorious criminal. With the help of tribal people, undercover officers went into Veerappan’s hideout. They carefully planned to lure him out of the forest, where he was hiding because he knew the terrain well. The whole operation took ten months to plan, three weeks to carry out, and the final face-off lasted only 45 minutes. STF members pretended to be hawkers, masons, and local service staff in the villages where Veerappan was believed to be hiding.
Over the years, Veerappan’s group shrank to only four men due to aging and deaths. Since Veerappan planned to leave the forest for medical treatment in South Arcot, the police needed to catch him.
On the day of the operation, Veerappan was taken out of the forest in an ambulance at Papirappati village in Dharmapuri district. Without him knowing, it was a police vehicle, and an officer from his gang was also in it. In the village, 35 officers were stationed, some hiding in security tankers and bushes. The ambulance driver, who was also a policeman, managed to escape as planned. The STF warned Veerappan and his men to surrender, but they refused and started shooting. The STF returned fire, resulting in Veerappan’s death during the shootout, and his associates died in the ambulance on the way to the government hospital.
After the operation, the STF found weapons, including a 12-bore Remington pump-action gun, two AK-47s, a self-loading rifle, two hand grenades, and ₹3.5 lakhs in cash. A police-released photograph showed three bullet wounds on Veerappan’s forehead, hip, and ribs. His body was kept in Dharampuri Hospital, where many people tried to see it, but access was denied. There was a brief controversy over the burial, as Veerappan’s wife, Muthulakshmi, preferred not to cremate him. She wanted the body placed in Veerappan’s brother’s house, asserting that the family had the right to decide on the final rites.
