The Hunt For Veerappan: True Story Behind Docuseries on India's Most Wanted Man

'The Hunt For Veerappan' is currently streaming on Netflix.

The newest addition to Netflix's true-crime docuseries is debutant director Selvamani Selvaraj's The Hunt For Veerappan. The four-part series sheds light on the life and death of forest brigand Veerappan, who was shot dead by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) in 2004 in one of India's most expensive manhunts till date.

The documentary walks us through the notorious crimes committed by Veerappan, a former poacher who soon became the country's most wanted man.

But who was Veerappan really? And what was his story? We explain.

Who Was Veerappan?

Veerappan, whose real name was Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, was born into a Tamilian family of cattle grazers in Karnataka's Gopinatham village in January 1952. He spent his early years assisting his uncle Saalvai Gounder in smuggling and poaching in the forests of the southern states. He was also an admirer of the notorious bandit Malayur Mammattiyan.

As per reports, Veerappan poached his first elephant at the age of 14 and committed his first murder when he was only 17.

Veeerappan entered the realm of crime at the age of 18, when he joined a group of poachers and soon became their leader, expanding their operations to include smuggling, murder, and abduction.

According to reports, the poacher-turned-criminal had been implicated in the deaths of over 120 people, poaching of over 1,000 elephants, and smuggling of sandalwood and ivory valued at millions of dollars.

Most of Veerappan's victims were police officers, forest officials and others who supported them. In 1986, Veerappan was apprehended and taken into custody, but he fled soon after.

According to a report by The Times of India, Veerappan abducted and lynched a forest officer from Sathyamangalam in 1987. The 1991 assassination of senior IFS official Pandillapalli Srinivas drew further attention to him.

In 1990, at the age of 39, he got married to Muthulakshmi, who was around 14 years at that time. They have two daughters: Vidya Rani (born in 1990) and Prabha (born in 1993).

From Poacher to India's Most-Wanted Criminal

Veerappan, also referred to as 'The Robinhood of India', became well-known for taking the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka hostage at ransom.

According to reports, the bandit's involvement with sandalwood smuggling came to light between July and December 1989, when he orchestrated huge felling in and around the Makkampalyam, Kottamadain, and Argiyam sections of the Satyamangala forests division in Tamil Nadu.

Veerappan was reportedly smuggling at least Rs 50 lakh worth of sandalwood annually.

In February 1990, a joint operation was launched by the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu forest and police departments, where reportedly 65 tonnes of sandalwood were confiscated from the Silvikkal forest (the highest to date).

In order to catch Veerappan, the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments formed a Special Task Force (STF) in 1992.

The STF was headed by Superintendent of Police Sanjay Arora in Tamil Nadu and Director General and Inspector General Shankar Bidri, with Walter Devaram serving as joint chief. During the operation, Veerappan's right-hand man, Gurunathan alias Gurunathachari, was killed by the Karnataka task force, and SI Shakeel Ahmed was solely in charge of capturing him, according to reports.

Gurunathan was second in command on Veerappan’s team. He was a skilled marksman and handled the purchasing and selling of elephants, the acquisition of weapons, and the provision of food for the team.

Three months later, Veerappan and his gang launched an attack on the Rampura police station in Kollegal, killing seven police officers and stealing several arms and ammunition in the process.

Soon after, the STF intensified their searches in and around Veerappan's birthplace, Gopinatham village. During the operation under the charge of Sanjay Arora and Shankar Bidari, Veerappan's gang was reduced to only five members.

A Rs 5 crore bounty was also announced on Veerappan. His wife Muthulakshmi was also detained by the STF in 1993 under accusations of aiding her husband. However, she was later acquitted of all charges.

In April 1993, Veerappan's single largest mass killing took place at the landmines of Palar, near Malai Mahadeswara Hills (present-day Chamarajanagar District, Karnataka), leaving 22 police officers and forestry officials dead.

As per reports, banned organisations like the Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT) and Liberation Army helped Veerappan secure a Robin Hood image and negotiate with prominent people. Kolathur Mani, president of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, was reportedly arrested as an accomplice but later acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

For several years during the 1990s, the brigand held many police officials, film celebrities and other known personalities captive in exchange for ransom money. It included the infamous abduction of popular Kannada actor Rajkumar and H Nagappa, former minister of Karnataka.

Operation Cocoon & Veerappan's Death

Operation Cocoon was initiated by the Special Task Force of the Tamil Nadu Police, aimed to end Veerappan's terror reign in the Sathyamangalam Forest, which spread across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The operation was led by K Vijay Kumar and NK Senthamarai, who infiltrated and apprehended Veerappan.

As per reports, Operation Cocoon was successful due to the assistance received from tribal people who helped the officers infiltrate the enemy camp.

On 18 October 2004, Veerappan and three of his aids, namely Sethukuli Govinda, Chandre Gowda, and Sethumani, were killed by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force, resulting in injuries to four policemen, as per reports.

The operation took an extensive 10 months of planning and 3 weeks of execution, culminating in a 45-minute final attack.

Over the course of time, Veerappan's troop had been reduced to only four men. The operation was carried out when Veerappan was planning to leave the forest in order to get medical treatment for his eyes (reportedly for cataracts) in South Arcot, Tamil Nadu.

Following the operation's success, several raised their doubts about the identity of the person killed by the police. However, police soon confirmed that the man was Veerappan through his fingerprints and validation from family and relatives.