|
Veerappan -- Myth and Demystification
 In this the second part of the interview with ADGP K Vijaykumar, the chief of the Special Task Force which successfully hunted down Veerappan, the crack commando talks about the myth and mystique surrounding the bandit and how the media and even members of the police force were convinced that Veerappan could not be caught.
"For six months, we worked on various means to get at Veerappan. However, I kept a low profile. I believed in telling the media very little at that stage, only what was relevant and what would not hamper the operations, rather than make a big hype or make tall claims. I was focussed on the job ahead of me. I believed in being with the men, listening to the grievances of the people, providing a shoulder for my men to lean on or weep, and quietly building up the confidence of my men. We began the Hearts and Minds programme to try and win over the people on to our side but it was difficult since there had been a large number of deaths on both sides, and there was an atmosphere of hatred, revenge and violence. Many of the seeds which Mr Dawaram and I and other officers sowed at that time came in useful later. It was then too early to expect immediate results. I was prepared for a long-drawn-out battle", said
Vijaykumar.
 Meanwhile, he was asked to come back to Chennai as City Police Commissioner. He had a fairly successful stint as city Police chief. "We had a good team and we managed to clean up many things on the law and order front, including action against organised crime. However, all the while I could not help trying to keep alive my interest in the Veerappan matter", said
Vijaykumar.
News would trickle in about the operations and about Veerappan but he had a hands-off policy since Nataraj was in charge and he could not interfere. "However, I did continue to keep track of major events on the Veerappan front. In Januay 2002, I went to Sathyamangalam just for a day when the Karnataka team led by IG Kempiah insisted that I come there. Then, after the abduction of Nagappa, Karnataka MLA, I went along with DGP Nailwal for a day. The Tamil Nadu team wanted to conduct raids but desisted from doing so, perhaps, largely at the instance of Nagappa's relatives who felt any operation could endanger his life".
In 2003 end, he was again asked to take up the operations against
Veerappan.
 Asked if he had any regrets about giving up the prestigious post of Chennai Police Commissioner, Vijaykumar said, "On the other hand, I welcomed the opportunity and had no regrets at all about giving up my Commissioner's post and moving into the forests. I felt this was an opportunity to prove what I always felt I was capable of doing. I must admit that when I resumed the task from Sathyamangalam, I was faced with an element of doubt as all around me there was a mystification of Veerappan. He was no longer just the poacher who looted forest property and made money as an avaricious man".
There was a myth and mystique about Veerappan built in large sections of the media and also within the police force.
"He had been built by the media as a man who cannot be caught, as a man who was Lord of the Jungle, that of a modern day Robin Hood, of an expert in combat and who had also gained additional strength with the entry of extremists from the TNLA and TNRT. He had more money, more arms and more men. But above all, there was the myth deliberately built by him and also developed by a section of the media that he was invincible -- even some of the men in my force were led to believe that Veerappan cannot be caught, that he was more powerful than the police, that he even used some kind of 'mai' (ink) to turn invisible!"
 "A Karnataka police officer, now an MP of the BJP, even stated publicly that it was a waste of time trying to catch Veerappan -- he cannot be caught, was his well-publicised opinion. The first thing I had to do was re-build confidence in my men -- boost their morale. I stayed with them on New Year Day -- 1.1.2004, talking to them, joking with them, eating with them. I spent the whole day with them. The first message that I managed to drive home to my men was that I had come to stay, that I would not leave the forests till I caught Veerappan, no matter how many years it took. I also convinced them that the CM and the government were totally behind us and that nothing would be lacking in effort or money or materials in this operation".
"I told them my life-time mission was to catch Veerappan. That's why I had come to the State in the first place".
"The men picked up in confidence and soon we began work in earnest -- in several directions at the same time", said Vijaykumar.
R Rangaraj
|
