Good riddance for Gopinatham

As the sandalwood smuggler was laid to rest in Moolakadu village in Tamil Nadu this morning, 35 kms away in his birthplace 8212; Gopinatham...

As the sandalwood smuggler was laid to rest in Moolakadu village in Tamil Nadu this morning, 35 kms away in his birthplace 8212; Gopinatham village in Karnataka 8212; there was a quiet celebration.

8216;8216;Our Shani Saturn is gone forever,8217;8217; beamed Muthu, a teastall owner at Gopinatham. And he has reasons to cheer: his father was one of the first victims of the brigand. A former aide of Veerappan, Marichetti was killed in 1983 after the brigand suspected his loyalty, said Muthu. 8216;8216;We were living in terror all these years with pressure from the police and from the Veerappan gang. But we are relieved now.8217;8217;

However, none can be as relieved as 41-year-old Mathesha, who lost seven family members to Veerappan8217;s bullets. 8216;8216;I am most happy now. My family can return to Gopinatham and live happily here,8217;8217; he said. In 1985, Veerappan killed Mathesha8217;s two uncles, as they assisted forest officers in their hunt for Veerappan.

Mathesha8217;s family immediately fled the village but was lured back by Veerappan who offered them a 8216;8216;peace8217;8217; deal. 8216;8216;He told us we could live without fear forever. Just as we thanked him, his gang members surrounded us and started firing. I fled from the place,8217;8217; said Mathesha, who lost his father, two brothers, a cousin and an uncle in the firing.

That day, Mathesha and his mother left the village and took shelter in a relative8217;s house in Mettur. 8216;8216;For years I never came to the village and worked as a coolie in Mettur though I owned lands here. Four years ago, I came back to do some cultivation. But my mother refused to come here till yesterday. Now she too wants to come,8217;8217; said Mathesha.

Over the past two decades, 4,000 villagers, most of whom belong to Veerappan8217;s Vanniar caste, were caught between the brigand8217;s grip and the STF8217;s excessive curbs 8212; they could not do fishing in the Cauvery nor cultivate on the river bed or collect the forest produce. 8216;8216;Now we are free. A 20-year old ghost haunting the village is gone for good,8217;8217; said a villager. 8216;8216;We will make a special offering to the local temple tomorrow.8221;