October 18 brought great relief for the police, security forces and administration of many states of the country. It was October 18, 2004, when security forces heaved a sigh of relief after killing bandit leader and notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in an encounter.
Veerappan, sporting a bushy moustache, remained a headache for the security forces for decades. Veerappan, who killed hundreds of elephants for ivory and smuggled sandalwood worth crores of rupees, killed more than 150 people while carrying out his smuggling operations and more than half of them were policemen.
