India's top bandit Veerappan killed
AFP, Chennai
India's most wanted criminal Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, accused of more than 100 murders and on the run for decades, has been shot dead after driving into a police trap, officials said yesterday. The death of Veerappan, known for his trademark handlebar moustache and said to be around 60 years old, brings to a close the longest manhunt in Indian police history. The bandit, who leapt to notoriety when he held Indian film star Rajkumar hostage for more than 100 days in 2000, was killed in a forest in southeastern Tamil Nadu state, said Special Task Force (STF) chief K. Vijay Kumar. He said police, acting on a tip-off, surrounded Veerappan and three associates while they were travelling in an ambulance near Dharmapuri in the west of the state late on Monday. "We announced on the speakers fitted to our jeeps that since he was surrounded and there was no way he could escape, he and his associates should give themselves up," Kumar said by telephone from Dharmapuri. "There was silence for about a minute and then, there was firing from the other side. We took cover and returned the fire, killing Veerappan and his three associates."
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