Villagers feel he won’t give up

On the other hand, residents of the brigand’s native village, Gopinatham, are doubtful about the possibility of Veerappan and his gang members surrendering to the Tamil Nadu authorities.

Childhood friends and associates of Veerappan in Gopinatham, on the fringe of Karnataka border, are of the view that surrender by Veerappan is a “very remote possibility”.

“Villagers here are sure that Veerappan will not surrender, though they might not be willing to say so. I have known Veerappan since he was a child. He was a good friend when both of us were young. Veerappan doesn’t trust his own shadow. How will he trust the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments? Govindaraju, managing trustee of the local Mariamman temple told The Indian Express.

A teacher in the local school, Govindaraju strongly feels that Veerappan will not surrender.

According to him, the brigand is driven “by a maniacal passion” to be “rich and famous”. Veerappan, who is inspired by the notorious `Robin Hood’ of Tamil Nadu Malayur Mampattiyan could not look back after his first killing of Karnataka Forest guard Mohanaiah and subsequent killing of five members of a rival gang, he maintains. Govindavarju’s observation found its concurrence among other elders of the village like Shanmugam and Arasappan.

The lone exception was Veerappan’s 65-year-old aunt Madamma, who feels the surrender initiative could be signs of transformation in the brigand after 20 years of hard life as a fugitive.

“I do not think he is doing all this for money. His intentions of surrender could be genuine, Madamma said.

However, the villagers refused to commit as to whether they would vote for Veerappan if he contested an election. “Fear is the key”, muttered a youngster before walking off.

Chinnaswamy, a former associate of the brigand, now living in the Needhipuram forest, dubbed the abduction episode as a ploy of the poacher to extract money for his survival. He dismissed the possibilities of any surrender.