Veerappan

Who was Veerappan?

Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, commonly known as Veerappan or Sandalwood Veerappan, was an Indian bandit who was active for years in scrub and forest lands covering about 6,000 km² in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

For over a decade, Veerappan defied the state governments of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and Indian Border security paramilitary forces, and even maintained a small army, which at one point numbered hundreds. He was wanted for killing approximately 184 people, about half of whom were police officers, including senior police and forest officials. He was also wanted for poaching about 200 elephants and smuggling ivory worth US$2,600,000 and about 10,000 tonnes of sandalwood worth approximately US$22,000,000.

A reward of 50 million was offered for Veerappan's capture, yet he evaded arrest for 20 years until he was killed by police in 2004.