India's most wanted bandit shot dead in jungle

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India's most wanted bandit shot dead in jungle
Last Updated Tue, 19 Oct 2004 06:48:52 EDT

MADRAS, INDIA - India's most wanted bandit, who police say spent more than 40 years murdering police and slaughtering elephants for ivory, was shot to death in a jungle gunbattle with police.

The body of Koose Veerappan, 60, was recovered following a shootout with a police paramilitary task force late Monday night, said a police official in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.


Notorious poacher and smuggler Veerappan in a 1998 photo. (AP Photo/Str, File)
With a bounty of more than $500,000 on his head, police said they received a tip he was hiding out in a local village.

A police spokesperson told NDTV television news that they offered Veerappan a chance to surrender, but that "the response was not appropriate."

The task force then battered him and a group of associates with stun grenades and gunfire.

Veerappan enjoyed a level of celebrity outlaw status in India, sporting a handlebar moustache and dressing in camouflage clothing.

Police allege he bribed politicians and gave money to poor peasants in exchange for places to hide out. It was rumoured he hung police informants from trees.

On the run since the 1960s, Veerapan allegedly worked with ivory smugglers in the Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

During an attempt to capture him in 2000, Veerappan kidnapped a popular 71-year-old Indian actor known as Rajkumar, and held him hostage in the jungle for three months. There was strong speculation the government paid a ransom to free the actor.

Indian state governments have reportedly spent close to $40 million hunting Veerappan with global positioning systems, night-vision equipment and helicopters since 1990.

Holy shit what a moustache!