Operation Cocoon
IT WAS indeed a "moment of crowning glory" for the Tamil Nadu Police, more particularly, the Special Task Force led by Vijay Kumar when they, if I may use the phrase, "executed" Veerappan and his gang — not just killed them in an encounter — for all the heinous offences he had committed against individuals and society, posing in the process a challenge to the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
By executing Veerappan, Vijay Kumar and his team have restored the lost glory of the Tamil Nadu police, because this menace has been nagging the police for over two decades. The Tamil Nadu police, one of the finest forces in the country, was subjected to needless criticism by certain groups who would not know the real functioning of the policing system. One point of the repeated criticism was that while people from certain sections had access to Veerappan why not the police. By this execution in a well planned operation, Vijay Kumar and his team have put an end to all the criticism and drawn the curtain over this long-drawn-out nagging issue.
As a former police chief of Tamil Nadu, I feel proud and happy about the way Vijay Kumar and his team went about the job in a very professional manner. My congratulations and salutations to him and his dedicated team. Chief Minister Jayalalitha also deserves kudos for her political will and determination in supporting the STF and the police.
Fine-tuning of intelligence system
From what I have been able to piece together from my conversation with Vijay Kumar and his SPs, from newspaper reports and various independent sources, I find that what has ultimately paid rich dividends is the fine tuning of the intelligence system which involved infiltration into the enemy camp, involving local tribal people in the operation with the police donning the role of a Good Samaritan. This operation involved a good admixture of brain and brawn. This in fact had all the elements of a crime thriller — the only difference is that this is a real story.
In the wake of this "Operation Cocoon," as Vijay Kumar would term it, there has been needless criticism on predicted lines by armchair critics. Let us analyse them one by one:
The first relates to the identity of Veerappan. It is being asked naively whether the person shot dead was Veerappan at all on the mere plea that the person had a moustache which was trimmed. This hardly merits any comment. Even so I would say that the identity of persons is not established merely on moustaches. It is a normal and legally valid police procedure that identity in such cases is established through identification of distinct birth marks on the physique of the person which are again identified by close blood relatives.
Moreover Veerappan, in his early criminal career, had been arrested and his fingerprints are preserved in police records. After this operation, his wife and close relatives have identified him to be Veerappan and also the fingerprints have been compared and found to match, establishing scientifically and beyond doubt that it was only Veerappan who was shot dead. The inquest witnesses have also confirmed this.
The second criticism relates to the nature of gunshot wounds — this is a matter for ballistic experts to decide and it has been established during the post-mortem and by the opinion of the forensic ballistic experts that they tally with the version of the police.
Yet another point of criticism is that probably Veerappan and his gang could have been captured alive. I think this is based on ill conceived information and total lack of knowledge about such operations. In the first instance, when there was an exchange of fire between the Veerappan gang and the police (in this incident, four policemen were also injured), naturally the police had to retaliate, if not for anything, at least in self-defence which ultimately resulted in Veerappan and his gang being killed.
Outlawry has provided the world with an array of colourful figures celebrated in lore and legend. Reputations of selected brigands were enhanced by perceptions that they have been outlawed due to political persecution or the skewed workings of a biased system of justice. It is in this context that Veerappan was shamelessly described as hero by some groups and unfortunately he has thus earned the reputation and image of a Robin Hood.
Another disturbing feature in the whole episode is that in the recent years he has been supported or may I say has been in the grip of Tamil extremists. In the circumstances even if he had been got alive and put on trial in court, I am not sure whether he would ever have been sentenced at all.
Again the human rights activists have put forward their contention that it is a violation of human rights to have shot Veerappan dead instead of giving him an opportunity to defend himself. Any number of police officers and forest officials were killed by Veerappan. Former Minister of Karnataka, Nagappa, was brutally murdered. Why did not the human rights activists raise a hue and cry on these occasions? Suffice it to say that they seem to have their own standards.
Some groups have aired their views to the effect that if only Veerappan had been captured alive a lot of hidden truths might have surfaced about his links and contacts. Here again, my own perception is that even after the Operation Veerappan has ended successfully we should not feel complacent and rest on our laurels. Even without Veerappan being alive, we can still piece together the flood of information that is likely to flow from people who were keeping quiet so far, for fear of reprisal from Veerappan.
The various happenings in the wake of the Rajkumar episode in 2000 would only strengthen my conviction that Tamil militant outfits have developed deep roots in the Satymangalam forest areas. It is for the government of Tamil Nadu and the police to evolve suitable strategies to flush the Tamil militants out in which case the presence of STF though not in huge numbers as of now may be necessary for some more time.
V. VAIKUNTH
Former DGP, Tamil Nadu
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