The Hindu : Did they miss Veerappan by a whisker?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 30, 2002

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National

Did they miss Veerappan by a whisker?

By K.T.Sangameswaran

CHENNAI Aug. 29. Did the Karnataka police miss the jungle brigand, Veerappan, by a whisker after he kidnapped the former Minister, H.Nagappa, from his farm house at Kaamagere in Karnataka on Sunday night?

What has come as a shock is that Veerappan is said to have stayed in the house of one Madanayaka, who is suspected to have passed on information regarding the movements of Mr.Nagappa to the poacher-turned-sandalwood smuggler to enable him to carry out the abduction. Madanayaka had since been arrested.

One version reaching the Tamil Nadu police is that immediately after the kidnapping, the driver of Mr.Nagappa informed the Karnataka police who acted swiftly and a team reached the spot.

The police party was told that the gang had walked nearly 2 km, along with the hostage, and boarded a bus after asking the passengers to get down and disappeared into the Burude forest.

It appears that Veerappan could have been caught if the police party had pursued the target. But that did not happen, police sources here say adding that the pursuers could have thought no harm should befall the hostage because of their actions.

The sources say that if only the police party had fired in the air from near the entry to the forest leading from the road, possibly the brigand and his associates would have taken to their heels, leaving behind the hostage who is a `liability' to them. Another strategy — which possibly would have revealed the gang's movements — would have been to press into service helicopters fitted with powerful searchlights immediately after the kidnapping.

Even here, no purpose would have been served if the gang hid behind a boulder or did not venture into the open areas in the jungles.

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