The Hindu : DGPs meet discusses strategy to catch Veerappan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 01, 2003

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DGPs meet discusses strategy to catch Veerappan

By K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI JAN. 31. Amid reports that the forest brigand, Veerappan, has been surrounded near the MM Hills in Karnataka, the strategy to catch him was among the subjects at the Regional Coordination Committee meeting of the Directors-General of Police of the southern States here on Friday. Building up confidence in the locals to part with information, if they have any, about Veerappan and sustaining their trust in police to ensure receipt of real-time intelligence, to enable police to act quickly, were discussed, police sources told The Hindu.

Creating trust in tribals, particularly at a time when they came forward to pass on information, was an urgent need. However, the locals are aware of the threat by the bandit in case he singled them out for cooperating with the police. The tribals expressed their fear when the police met them to enlist their support by giving information.

Also, awareness needed to be created among the locals on what the Government's reward of Rs. 5 crores meant to them. Given the fact that the outlaw operated in forest areas, gathering intelligence without the tribals' assistance is impossible. It was against this background that the discussions revolved, the sources said.

The Tamil Nadu DGP, R. Rajagopalan, said the meeting discussed the need for emphasis on proactive and preventive measures to detect and contain fundamentalist/extremist network in the four Southern States. Besides Veerappan, the other subjects included activities of fundamentalists, left wing extremists, property crimes and drug trafficking. The ramifications of inter-State crime and the need to share intelligence were stressed upon. Suggestions came up to evolve strategies to deal effectively the problems of fundamentalism and communalism.

Dr. Rajagopalan said, "We are going hammer and tongs to get Veerappan. I am confident we will be able to secure him in the near future." But no deadline could be fixed. The joint action plan for seeking assistance, which would focus on technical support for Tamil Nadu, would be provided to the Union Government soon. If choppers were available, on receipt of specific intelligence, commandos could slither down at the particular spot and commence operations. Asked how this strategy would help, given the forest canopy, he said operational matters could not be discussed outside. The police now received "fairly reliable" intelligence (from the locals). "We hope to do a quick job. Let us hope that the long menace is put an end to at the earliest," Dr. Rajagopalan said.

The DGPs of Karnataka and Kerala, T. Madiyal and K.J. Joseph, Inspector-General of Police, Pondicherry, J.P. Singh and IGP, Intelligence, Andhra Pradesh, Sivasankar and other officials participated in the meeting.

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