Madhaiyan, the elder brother of dreaded sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, died Wednesday morning following a cardiac arrest at a government hospital in Salem where he was receiving treatment since May 1. He was 80 and is survived by his wife.
Madhaiyan, who was sentenced to life for the murder of forest ranger Chidambaram in 1987, had been in jail for the past 34 years. He was also convicted in a murder case and spent some time at the Mysuru jail before he was shifted to Tamil Nadu.
Doctors at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital said Madhaiyan was admitted on May 1 after he complained of chest pain. “He was being treated for various ailments and suffered a cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning,” a doctor said.
Veerappan, who was killed by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) on October 18, 2004, in an encounter, earned notoriety for poaching elephants, smuggling sandalwood, kidnapping high-profile people like Kannada Thespian Raj Kumar and former minister Nagappa, and killing policemen and others who came his way.
The bandit ran an empire inside the forests along the Sathyamangalam forests spread across Erode and Mysore districts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, respectively.
Published 25 May 2022, 13:39 IST