Veerappan aide arrested 13 years after brigand's death

The Ramapura police, on Sunday, arrested Shivaswamy alias Dumble Gundi, 52, an accomplice of the late forest brigand Veerappan and an accused in the Palar bomb blast and other cases in Tamil Nadu.

Shivaswamy from Veppede village, Sathyamangalam (Erode district of Tamil Nadu), had absconded 25 years ago and was arrested from D G Puduru village in Sathyamangalam taluk.

He was produced before the court on Monday.

According to police, Shivaswamy was involved in various crimes with the forest brigand around two-and-a-half decades ago and was at large since then.

He had settled in his native village and was into the weaving profession, it is said.

After Veerappan was killed in 2004, the police department had arrested most of his accomplices and sent them to jail. However, Shivaswamy, who was wanted in three cases, had remained at large.

Wanted for a kidnap

Shivaswamy is wanted in the kidnap of Ramamurthy, son of Sampangiramaiah, a mining baron from Hanur. A case was registered at the Hanur police station on February 16, 1992.

He is also a suspect in the kidnap and murder of Chinnagounder at Nelluru village under Ramapura police station limits on November 11 the same year.

Bomb blast case

He is one of the 124 suspects involved in the Palar bomb blast of 1993, executed by Veerappan, targeting STF chief K Gopalakrishnan and his team. Shivaswamy had gone incognito after the assassination of Veerappan, police said.