वीरप्पन

by Sunaad Raghuram, Pramod Joglekar (Translator)

वीरप्पन...!कर्नाटक व तामिळनाडू राज्यांत धुमाकूळ घालणारा भारतातला ‘मोस्ट वॉन्टेड’ क्रूर डाकू.आपल्या टोळीच्या मदतीने वीरप्पन निलगिरी पर्वतराजींमधील समृद्ध जंगलांतून करोडो रुपये किंमतीचे चंदन चोरतो; शंभराहून अधिक हत्तींना क्रूरपणे ठार मारून हस्तिदंत मिळवतो; त्याला पकडण्यासाठी गेलेले विशेष कृतिदलातले पोलीस अधिकारी, वनअधिकारी, पोलिसांना मदत करणारे गावकरी, अशा शंभराहून अधिक लोकांच्या त्याने निर्घृण हत्या केलेल्या आहेत.खंडण्या वसूल करणारा, अपहरणे करणारा, दहशतवाद निर्माण करणारा हा खुनी दरोडेखोर, तस्कर दोन राज्य सरकारांना आदेश देण्याइतका माजतो. इतकेच नव्हे, तर तामीळ दहशतवादी आणि नक्षलवादी संघटनांच्या संपर्कात आल्यावर अचानक त्याला आपण गोरगरिबांचा ‘मसीह

438 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Tessa Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one I picked up to intentionally get a taste of life in a country a knew very little about. I loved the adventure of it at first and as the book went on, I was drawn into the conflict and then uncomfortably (but for the best) forced to consider his perspective as well. His story is too crazy to be anything but true.

[Ajay Ramaseshan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A riveting account of one of the most dreaded bandits in modern times, the author goes into great detail about the various police attempts made to catch him, the setting up of the Special Task Force STF, the casualties on both sides, the arrests of his accomplices, and subsequent legal tangles etc. Before reading the book, the portion of his criminal career that I knew already was the kidnapping of Kannada cinestar Rajkumar since it happened while I was in school in Bangalore. The author has covered this case in great detail. And it showed how continuously the bandit was proving to be a thorn in the flesh of the Governments and police authorities of two states - Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The only minor flaw in this book is that it is a little outdated, since it ends with the release of Rajkumar ie around Dec 2000. After that, another politician Nagappa was kidnapped and then found murdered. And finally the Veerappan saga came to end in the mid 2000s with Operation Cocoon. So if someone wants a complete story of the bandit, then he needs to supplement this book with Wikipedia. But otherwise, a great read.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best

[Lachhithkhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Janaka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informative account of the bandit's life, but the writing is so schlocky that I had to put it down.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a different kind of book, but kept me intrigued the whole time. I wonder why they didn't just find Veerappan by satellite and shoot him from the sky?

[Sandeep Madkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice book.
Extensively covered the empire of Veerappan and his gang till abduction of Rajkumar by Veerappan gang in 2000.

[Dhananjayan Jayabal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting book