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Forest officials protecting the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border region have long forgotten the Veerappan era. But can they be so complacent as to allow minor poachers to grow into brigands that are difficult to deal with?

A case in point is that of Karavadaiyan alias Raja, a 40-year-old suspected poacher who died under mysterious circumstances at Chennampatti village in Erode district. Raja and his three associates have had a history of entering the Karnataka forests. According to the Chamarajanagar forest officials, there were three poaching cases, besides one for gambling, pending against Raja in Karnataka. He had been absconding for over three years, during which time he was believed to have lived inside the forest, trading his catch using his contacts outside the forest.

Conservationist groups based in The Nilgiris, who are working in tandem with those from MM Hills, BR Hills, Mudumalai, Kudremukh, Nagaraholay and Brahmagiri range, point out that this is the same trajectory that had been taken by the dreaded gang of poachers led by Veerappan who was active for 36 years until he was killed in 2004 by the Tamil Nadu Police’s Special Task Force.

A case in point is that of Karavadaiyan alias Raja, a 40-year-old suspected poacher who died under mysterious circumstances at Chennampatti village in Erode district. Raja and his three associates have had a history of entering the Karnataka forests

What started as essentially a two-man operation comprising Veerappan and Sethukuli Govindan got bigger after Maran, Iniyan, Andril, Sathya, Nagaraj, Puttusamy, Rama, Basavanna and Govindaraj joined the group. Finally, it took several years to capture and convict them for pillaging forest wealth in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Though some of the poachers in Erode and Chamarajanagar districts on either side of the border are yet to make any big kills — at least none reported so far — officials from the CID cell (Forests) in Karnataka are of the opinion that they operate in the same manner as Veerappan and Govindan did.

Also Read: Why ethical education is key to anti-poaching initiatives

CID officials along with police and forest personnel have been regularly undertaking joint operations to flush out poachers from the areas earlier ruled by Veerappan and gang. Many poachers have also been arrested, mostly for killing animals for meat. “Poaching for meat has always been there in these areas but we have also nabbed poachers carrying the pelts of animals now and then,” said an official.

Most of the poaching takes place in the Tamil Nadu part of the forests, and poachers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala take the Gundlupet route to reach Karnataka. “Bidarahalli Kencha (a poacher who has been active for a few years) is said to operate in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. If left loose, he might prove to be a menace,” said a conservationist working in MM Hills and BR Hills.

Conservationist groups say that Karnataka and Tamil Nadu forest departments should fill up vacancies in their ranks and intensify their efforts to nab the poachers and nip the menace in the bud.

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