Enough bull, get the bandit

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Bangaloreans, nay the whole state, is sick and tired of Koose Muniswamy Veerappan.<br />Bangaloreans are also irritated and disgusted with the Karnataka police led by Director General of Police V V Bhaskar.<br />Crores of rupees have been spent on the Special Task Force and all that has been achieved is gross human rights violations as the personnel unleashed a wave of terror in scores of villages that mark the bandit''s territory.<br />On Sunday, a group of journalists from Bangalore were taken to the STF camp in Kollegal where the DGP spoke tough and warned that anybody associated with Veerappan would be booked and their properties confiscated under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) - the State''s version of POTA.<br />That''s absolute tosh, for the villagers who support Veerappan willingly or out of fear, have no property worth talking about.Most of them are happy if they can get two square meals a day.<br />That''s the problem with Bhaskar and his men. For over 10 years, the police top-brass has willingly played second fiddle to the machinations of the politicians of the area as they looted the forest of its wealth, especially timber and granite.<br />It was the politicians who saw to it that Veerappan roamed free and it was the politicians who ensured that any officer with the courage to take on the bandit got unceremoniously booted out.<br />Now when the stuff that passes through the alimentary canal of a bull hits the ceiling, Bhaskar has requisitioned the services of such officers as IGP Kempaiah, `Tiger'' B B Ashok Kumar and other tough officers.<br />Except that the life of former minister H Nagappa is now so precious it''s become a caste issue and so the STF is hunting for the elusive brigand and his men with their hands tied behind their backs, just like the IPKF in the ill-fated Sri Lankan operation.<br />The government should perhaps ask itself what Israel would have done if some crook grabbed hold of a prominent citizen.<br />The answer is simple: No-holds-barred. Chase Koose night and day through hill and dale and GET HIM.<br />Or GET OUT.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">allenmendonca1@indiatimes.com.</span><br /></div> </div>