New Delhi: Almost 12 years after his elimination, the story of the killing of forest brigand Veerappan is being chronicled, none other than by the person who led the ‘Operation Cocoon’. Retired IPS officer K Vijay Kumar is currently writing the nearly 1,000 page book on Veerappan, who had ruled 6,000 sq km forest in three Southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala for more than two decades, poached over 200 elephants, smuggled ivory worth hundreds of crore of rupees and killed more than 180 people, mostly police and forest officials. “It is a first hand experience book. My aim is to give a clear and correct picture on how Veerapan was killed,” said Kumar, currently serving as senior security advisor to the home ministry after his retirement as chief of CRPF. Kumar led the Special Task Force which was instrumental in launching ‘Operation Cocoon’ to capture or kill Veerapan.
Incidentally, a Hindi movie, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, on the life of the bandit and the events leading to his elimination was released only last fortnight. “My book will be the real story. I will not reveal names of a few persons due to security reasons. Otherwise, every details of the operation are being chronicled,” Kumar, the 1975 batch IPS officer, said. As per reports, the ‘Operation Cocoon’ was planned for ten months during which STF personnel infiltrated as hawkers, masons and local service staff in the villages where Veerappan was roaming.
