CHENNAI, July 24: For "Nakkerran" editor Gopal and his team, the Veerappan mission was filled with thrills and chills.``It was an extraordinary experience,'', Gopal told the press today.He said his team had to cough its way into the forest for over one-and-a- half km to reach the brigand's den.Giving details of his trip ``fraught with risks'', Gopal said, on Monday, at around 1 am, in the foothills of the range separating Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, Veerappan's aides handed Gopal an audio cassette containing their leader's instructions on the route to be taken to reach his hideout. Veerappan had, in the audiotape, asked them to cough loudly after they reached a particular point, which was a signal for his aides to escort the team to the final destination. Thus they trudged on more than a kilometer, coughing violently, by turns.It was around 4 am when the "Nakkeeran" team, escorted by two of Veerappan's aides, reached the hideout, passing through electric fences put up by the villagers to keep off wild animals from the fields. Gopal said that the people living in the surrounding villages are living in terror. While half of them have turned into Veerappan's supporters because of the alleged harassment by the STF, the rest are hoping for Veerappan's early `exit' from these forests.
