Bangalore, Sept 18: Forest brigand Veerappan can be liquidated if one had "the will, good intelligence and operations" but the border security force does not want to get involved in capturing him as it is short on troops, a top BSF official said today. BSF Director General Ajai Raj Sharma told reporters here that BSF cannot afford to give troops to catch Veerappan as "we are tied up in counter-insurgency operations, especially in Jammu and Kashmir".


"We don't have the force at the moment. We are badly committed. We don't want to take the job half-heartedly", he said. While maintaining that he knew nothing about operations against Veerappan, problems being faced by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Police in capturing him and the terrain where the fugitive operates, Sharma, however, said "I feel that there is no gang which cannot be liquidated given amount of time".

Sharma recalled how during initial years of his career, many gangs in Chambal valley, operating for 10-15 years, were liquidated in one year. "It's a question of will, good intelligence and good operations thereafter. The combination of these should be good enough to liquidate Veerappan", he said.

But the fact that Veerappan has not been captured suggests that "something is wrong somewhere", he said. Bureau Report