Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
Koose Munisamy Veerappan is a ZEE5 docu-series that follows the life and crimes of one of India’s most well-known criminals. It sheds light on Veerappan‘s difficult choices, his crimes, and the reasons he continued on the path of crime despite the police brutality that spiked over the years. Veerappan was an Indian kidnapper, elephant poacher, and sandalwood smuggler who was killed on October 18, 2004.
The Tamil Nadu Special Task Force had planted a mole in Veerappan’s ranks. Through the mole, they received information that the alleged bandit needed to visit a hospital in Salem. Authorities arranged an ambulance to pick him up and shot a few hundred bullets at the ambulance. Three of them hit Veerappan and he subsequently died. That night, the police’s file on Veerappan saw a conclusion, and Operation Cocoon was successful.
Operation Cocoon was started by Tamil Nadu’s special task force intended to end the prolonged reign of terror that Veerappan caused in the Sathyamangalam forest across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The operation took many months of planning and was executed through infiltration with help from natives of the forest. The attack that killed Veerappan also ended with the killing of three other aids. They were Sethumani, Sethukuli Govinda, and Chandre Gowda. The attack lasted 45 minutes, according to The Quint.
Despite the resistance from authorities and environmentalists, Veerappan garnered active support from natives in and around the forest. He led a group of landless laborers on a mission to clear massive lands that were deemed government property. He led them to deforest the land and begin cultivation. When his funeral was held, 20,000 people showed up, the New York Times reported.
Koose Munisamy Veerappan: What was Veerappan charged with?
Koose Muniswamy Veerappan Gounder was born in Gopinatham village in Karnataka, in January 1952. He allegedly got into poaching and smuggling in the forests of South India through his uncle, Saalvai Gounder. Veerappan was only 14 years old when he poached his first elephant. He was 17 at the time when he committed his first murder. Soon after, at the age of 18, he joined a group of poachers. He led them to expand into abduction, murder, and smuggling.
Also known as the Santhana Kadathal Veerappan, the gangster, accompanied by his team, killed many police officers, slaughtered elephants, and smuggled sandalwood. But his most infamous and high-profile crime was the abduction of Dr Rajkumar, a Kannada actor and superstar on July 30, 2000. Dr Rajkumar was abducted along with three of his associates in Gajanur, Tamil Nadu.
KN Senthamarikannan, an officer who led the operation that ended in Veerappan’s killing, told the Hindustan Times that the abduction of the Kannada superstar was a pivotal turning point in the story of Veerappan. Dr Rajkumar was 72 years old at the time of the abduction and was held hostage for 108 days. When he returned on November 15, 2000, he claimed that Veerappan had treated him with respect and he remained unharmed.
Over the course of his nearly 40-year career, Veerappan reportedly killed 120 policemen, forest officials, and villagers who sided with the authorities. He also slaughtered around 200 elephants and illegally cut down hundreds of thousands of sandalwood trees, according to the New York Times.
Koose Munisamy Veerappan is currently streaming on ZEE5.
