Koose Munusamy Veerappan[2][3] (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian poacher, smuggler, domestic terrorist and bandit who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom.

He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

[15] Veerappan began his criminal career by assisting his uncle Saalvai Gounder, a notorious poacher and sandalwood smuggler.

The blast occurred at Palar, near Malai Mahadeswara Hills (present-day Chamarajanagar District, Karnataka) and killed 22 members of the team.

In February 1992, his lieutenant Gurunathan was killed by the Karnataka task force, with SI Shakeel Ahmed single-handedly responsible for the capture.

Three months later, Veerappan attacked the Ramapura police station in Kollegal, killing several policemen and capturing arms and ammunition.

The Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Special Task Forces then began intensified combing operations along the two states' border areas and also around Gopinatham village, Veerappan's birthplace.

[25] On 30 June 2000, Veerappan abducted Kannada cinema actor Rajkumar and three others from Dodda Gajanur, a village in Sathyamangalam taluk Erode district near the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, where the film star was attending his housewarming ceremony.

[33] The Joint Special task forces of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu worked with the Kerala police to help release Nagappa.

It is also believed that Veerappan buried large amounts of money in various parts of the forest; in 2002 police recovered 3.3 million rupees from his gang members.

[25] On 18 October 2004, Veerappan and three of his associates were killed by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force[38] and N. K. Senthamarai Kannan under the leadership of K. Vijay Kumar.

[40] The Tamil Nadu Special Task Force, which had been observing his movements for several months, surrounded the ambulance, and the gangsters were killed in the ensuing gunfight.

[19] Several human rights activists, who rallied under the banner of the Centre for Protection of Civil Liberties (CPCL), claimed that circumstantial evidence indicated that Veerappan was murdered by police after being tortured.

[42] Veerappan was buried at Moolakkadu near Mettur in Tamil Nadu, as his family members were more attached to it and most of his relatives in Gopinatham had left.