Koose Muniswamy Veerappan - the name that spells terror for the police forces and horror for the political leaders, is back in the news for what he does best, kidnap VIPs, and demand the impossible. Will he succeed this time around or, more appropriately, will he be allowed to succeed? 

  It was the abduction of a former Karnataka state Minister H. Nagappa from his farmhouse in Kollegal forest near Mysore on the night of 25 August that opened the Pandora’s box. While leaders are busy blaming each other for the present state of affairs, Veerappan remains free.

  Veerappan first made headlines in 1987, when he killed a forest officer in cold blood. He has grown in stature since then. It is estimated that the bandit, who made his fortune by smuggling sandalwood and ivory, has killed about 130 people, and poached nearly 2000 elephants to date. His first celebrity hostage was the Kannada matinee idol, Rajkumar, whom he held hostage for 108 days in July 2000. Rajkumar’s release was reported made after his paying a sum of 30 crores. The Nagappa episode is the second in this series of VIP kidnappings. Like an animal tasting human blood, Veerappan seems to have realised the benefits of having a VIP hostage, in terms of ransom money and media attention. 

  The immediate problem is the lack of consensus and cooperation between the political leadership of the two states. While the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalitha, has branded Veerappan as ‘anti-national’ and not worthy of engaging in any kind of dialogue or negotiations, her Karnataka counterpart seems to be giving in to the pressure for rescuing Nagappa, who comes from his state. This is only the outer manifestation of a deep-rooted malaise. Its aspects are:

Lack of political will

  This is the biggest handicap for the government. Recently, J. Jayalalitha, while criticizing the inability to nab Veerappan, compared him to Prabhakaran, the LTTE Supremo. She said that Veerapapan has dominated the forest area of 3 states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, spanning an area of 17,000 sq. miles, which is 17 times larger than the operational zone of the LTTE. Analyzing the poor performance of the Special Task Force, she stated that the IPKF, comprising 80,000 to 1 lakh soldiers, could not succeed in capturing Prabhakaran, while only 1,600 men were there in the Special Task Force operations to nab Veerappan. Comparing Veerappan to Prabhakaran tantamounts to catapulting an ordinary dacoit to the status of a sub-national leader. Such comparisons will further embolden Veerappan. The system should be blamed for nurturing this Frankenstein for all these years. It is impossible for one single man to evade the law for so long. A strong support system explains Veerappan’s elusiveness, a network that comprises people in power and position. This is evident from the lack of seriousness in the operations to capture him. ‘Nab-Veerappan’ operations, like the one currently on, has been launched in fits and starts. An operation launched in an emergency situation like the present one, is dropped after the crisis is resolved, only to be relaunched when he strikes again.  The lack of cooperation and coordination between the various states and departments involved is proof of the missing political will. 

Waning Legitimacy

  This is the saddest and most worrying aspect, as it shows the growing popularity and hold of unlawful elements on the masses. Veerappan’s biggest asset is the support of the locals, who prefer him to the corrupt and unresponsive representatives, whom they never see after the elections. He feels the pulse of the people and caters to them better than the elected representatives, who are entrusted with this task. The waning legitimacy of the elected representatives over their constituency shows the paucity of good leadership. 

Weak Crisis Management

  The security system is deeply flawed as it lacks an effective crisis management machinery. This should form the heart of any security apparatus. Veerappan has capitalized on this lacuna, but no concrete effort has been taken to remedy this situation. 

  Veerappan has become a national embarrassment. Questions like ‘if a bandit can play such havoc, then imagine the damage that can be done by Pak based, ISI trained, jehadis’ are being voiced by the masses. If the Centre wants to restore faith in the police and paramilitary forces and save itself from this embarrassing situation, it should lend all moral and material support to get Veerappan, dead or alive.