The Hindu : Wily brigand pulls a fast one again on STF

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Wily brigand pulls a fast one again on STF

By R. Krishna Kumar

Kollegal Aug. 26. The knee-jerk reaction that underlines the operation of the Special Task Force against the forest brigand, Veerappan, came to the fore on Sunday when the abduction of the former minister, H. Nagappa, froze its personnel into a state of inaction.

Mr. Nagappa was abducted from his farmhouse at Kamagere, about 14 km. from Kollegal town and nearly seven km. from Hanur Police Station limits, around 10 p.m. What is intriguing is that the brigand struck with ease and walked away with his catch right under the nose of the STF personnel who were stationed hardly five km. away. The Hanur Police was alerted within minutes, and it took them nearly 45 minutes to reach the spot. That the police did not swing into action or pursue the elusive brigand is clear from the fact that they failed to follow the trail which could have been deduced by piecing together the sequence of events from the local people.

While the police were making preliminary inquiries at the scene of the abduction, Veerappan was quenching his thirst hardly a km. away. What is worse, inquiries at the farmhouse confirmed that Veerappan, accompanied by eight others, stayed for nearly 45 minutes outside the farm along with Mr. Nagappa.

The entire village was abuzz with the news of the abduction within minutes. The news spread as quickly to Kollegal and Mysore. But the STF camp at Gundal, which overlooks Kamagere village and is at a considerable height, did not get wind of it. This is despite the frequent claims of the STF officers that they have established an "intelligence network" by adopting a people-friendly approach in ferreting out information about the brigand's movement.

Interestingly, a road connects the farmhouse and the camp. A few followers of the minister showed presence of mind when they followed the brigand's trail imagining that as is his wont, he would use a private vehicle to travel a considerable distance before disappearing into the jungles abutting the roads. But Veerappan deceived everybody yet again and hitched a ride in a private bus after asking the passengers to get off.

Meanwhile, the minister's followers, who were in a Tata Sumo, were duped into pursuing another private vehicle. Local people, quoting the driver and the conductor of the bus, say the brigand got off the bus after travelling less than one km. when the gang sighted a jeep.

People say Veerappan may have suspected that the jeep belonged to either the STF or the Forest Department. Hence, the brigand and his men are thought to have alighted from the bus with their hostage and walked the remaining distance before disappearing into the forests under the cover of darkness.

If true, it is highly intriguing that the strange movement of a bus and nine people alighting from it and walking into the adjoining jungles did not draw the attention of the officials in the jeep.

By the time the STF got its act together late in the night, all it could think of was to seek reinforcements from Mysore, Mandya, and Kodagu.

Reinforcements were rushed from Mysore at night itself, and the personnel were deployed at strategic points. But it was too late then.

The saga of abductions by Veerappan is typical of his established style of selecting the victims and kidnapping them when the police and the STF lower their guard. The abduction of the Kannada thespian, Rajkumar, two years ago, and the hostage crisis following the abduction of the wildlife photographers, Kripakar and Senani, and a few others are recent examples of this.

Mr. Nagappa was abducted on Sunday night when the focus of the security personnel shifted to Gajanur where Mr. Rajkumar was paying a visit after more than two years.

The moot question being raised here is what prevents the STF from learning from its past experiences as the crafty brigand has always struck in similar circumstances.

Reinforcements from Bangalore, Mysore, and Mandya may beef up the STF strength in the region.

But does the presence of a large posse of policemen new to the terrain serve any purpose?

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