Big boys for the bandit

‘Operation Veerappan’ is a farce. The STF only added to the sham when during earlier regimes in Tamil Nadu, the Chennai Police Commissioner doubled as part time commander of this force operating in the jungle hundreds of miles away! The present government stretched it by appointing a retired DGP to head the STF. Karnataka matched it by making the serving DGP himself lead the STF. These absurdities were capped by Chief Minister S.M.Krishna’s ridiculous utterance: ‘There was no national highway in the jungle to drive in and capture Veerappan as and when we wished’. This kind of charade has encouraged police, politicians and the press to spread the myth of the invincibility of Veerappan and the impregnability of his empire.

The sham of Centre-Karnataka-Tamil Nadu joint operations has only lent weight to such notions of invincibility. Soon after Nagappa’s kidnap, STF of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka intensified operations to catch Veerappan and at least 1,500 personnel were deployed. The STF was reportedly deployed at strategic locations with a large ‘crack team’ undertaking combing operations.

A 140-member team of National Security Guards ‘commandos’, headed by a senior officer of the rank of Brigadier, equipped with latest hi-tech weapons and gadgets, flew in from Delhi. They entered the forests and joined forces with the STF. Even such a massive force armed to the teeth could not get anywhere near Veerappan. Earlier ‘joint operations’ with BSF Commandos have also been unsuccessful.

The truth is that there has been total failure of police intelligence and lack of any cohesive strategy or action plan by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Everything being done in ‘Operation Veerappan’ is adhoc, patchy, amateurish and unprofessional. This is because the wrong commandos are being deployed. The commandos who can be best effective in the jungle are not with the NSG or BSF. They are with the Indian Army.

The genesis of the commando force in the Indian Army goes back to the late sixties when infantry troops fought underground rebels in the north-eastern States of Nagaland and Manipur. These States were almost fully covered by mountainous jungles much larger, denser and more dangerous than the forests that Veerappan dominates.

At that time the proficiency level of the infantry in jungle warfare was limited, soldiers faced initial difficulties and some fine men and officers lost their lives. Realising this the Army Headquarters introduced commando and jungle warfare training at Infantry School— Mhow— in Madhya Pradesh. The result was dramatic. Young officers returned from this training, took charge of their platoons, trained their men and led them into action. The insurgents fled and the Naga underground elements were virtually decimated.

Commando School is now a full-fledged institution of the Indian Army. Trained army commandos operating in the jungle merge with the terrain in which they operate and survive on the land. They operate on 4S principle – Secrecy, Stealth, Speed and Stamina — in complete contrast to what the police are doing now.

‘Operation Veerappan’, has been a stain on India’s governance. More so with the allegation of ransom giving by a chief minister. A security adviser to the government of Karnataka has admitted that ‘Operation Veerappan’ has been a total failure. Governments would be well advised to seek the help of Army commandos to capture or kill Veerappan.

The writer, a former army officer, has led anti-insurgency operations in Nagaland