‘It isn’t NSG’s job to hunt Veerappan in the jungles’

The National Security Guard (NSG) commandos had been called in to nab Veerappan a little after JD(U) leader H Nagappa was kidnapped. A team ...

The National Security Guard (NSG) commandos had been called in to nab Veerappan a little after JD(U) leader H Nagappa was kidnapped.

A team of about 100 personnel, led by Brigadier Raj Seethapathy (the man who had successfully commanded the Akshardham temple operation in Gujarat), had gone to the forests and was there for about a week. The team included about 80 commandoes and other officers and personnel.

It proved to be a futile exercise. We are not a combing force but an intervention force—a quick reaction attack force. We were told about two-three

hideouts where Veerappan was likely to be. We even went to those places but didn’t find anything there. Either the information was not correct or he may have shifted from there before we reached there. After all, he is also an intelligent man.

Story continues below this ad

There was lack of actionable information given to us and we couldn’t do anything. It is not our job to hunt Veerappan down in the jungles. We are not a force trained for that. What we could have done was act on information available to us. We will still go and nab him if we have the information. Once he is hunted, we will form an assault force, move in and neutralise him. That is what we are trained for.

In addition to anti-terrorist and anti-hijacking operations, we are also trained for VVIP security. That is the NSG’s forte.