Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Wanted: accurate intelligence and help from villagers

By K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI DEC. 9. With the death of the former Minister, H. Nagappa, in the custody of Veerappan, the joint operations by the Special Task Forces of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have commenced; but the problems for the police remain the same, notwithstanding the Union Government's assurance that it will assist the States in catching the bandit.

Besides the handicap in the absence of timely information, the operations have not been carried out in a sustained manner, as is evident from the events relating to kidnap. Senior police officers say the bandit resorts to a kidnap or violence, when he is in dire need of - respite, resources or detained assistants or for personal demands, which are not always made public. When he abducts an official or VIP, negotiations will begin and he gets breathing time. The joint operations are suspended. ``Though he tends to give a Tamil nationalistic flavour to his demands, what happens behind-the-scenes remains a mystery; says a police officer, who is now looking into what happened behind the Rajkumar (Kannada actor) kidnap drama and his release two years ago.

Though the Centre has given the assurance that it will provide assistance to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the operations to nab the brigand, police sources point out that the support, likely to be in the form of technical aids, will not be of much help to the police. ``After all, it is a police job. We must do it and it requires patience and perseverance'', a senior police officer once said. Even the Border Security Force, which joined the police operations, had to return empty-handed.

Engineering experts are also of the opinion that remote-sensing will not be of any help in locating an individual or a small group. The STF drew a blank in its efforts at identifying the bandit's movements from an aircraft of helicopter, what with a forest cover. Only after locating an area, where Veerappan is suspected to be hiding, can helicopters be used for dropping personnel.

However, the death of the former Minister has pointed to the urgency of eliminating the menace. What the police need now are accurate intelligence and help from villagers to locate Veerappan.

As for the cause of Nagappa's death, one theory here is the brigand was keeping him as a `shield' to avert any police action. Another version is that the ailing politician had become a `burden', hampering Veerappan's movements. Despite all this, the police failed to track his movements.

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