posted on Oct, 18 2004 @ 07:01 PM
India"s most wanted criminal, who once boasted of cutting up his victims and feeding them to fish, has been shot dead in an hour-long gunbattle with
police in a jungle in southern India. He was killed with three of his associates, in a gunfight with Special Task Force members around 10:50 p.m.
(4:20 p.m. GMT).
edition.cnn.com
Police said they had received information on Veerappan"s whereabouts in the jungle and went to the location where they spotted a car.
After firing warning shots and an exchange of gunfire, police said, they hurled a stun grenade and later confirmed Veerappan had been killed.
He was accused of killing 120 people, many of them police and forestry officials, and of making millions of dollars from poaching elephants and
smuggling sandalwood, which is used in the perfume industry.
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Veerappan had managed to avoid authorities for decades. Known for his handlebar moustache, Veerappan had gained notoriety throughout the country for
his ability to escape capture and for his brazen attacks on authorities.
His career in crime spanned decades, but it was in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s that his crime spree intensified. Many times he has said he
beheaded his victims and fed them to his fish, quite violent acts.
He gained international headlines in July 2000 when he kidnapped India"s most popular movie star, Rajkumar, only to release him unharmed that
November.
Veerappan had been on the run for more than four decades but was taken into custody in 1986, but was released after paying a $2,000 bribe.
Hopefully, he won"t escape from this one. The cobra will not strike again.