Veerappan's aide Bilavendran dies of health issues

M Bilavendran (61), an associate of forest brigand Veerappan, died in a hospital on Wednesday. He was serving a jail term since last 27 years.

Bilavendran of Martalli village near Male Mahadeshwara Hill in Chamarajanagar district, was awarded lifetime imprisonment for his role in several crimes, including a landmine blast, in which 23 personnel were killed, in 1993. Bilavendran was admitted to KR Hospital six days back, as he fell unconscious at the jail.

Bilavendran, along with A Simon, Gnanaprakasam and Mesekara Madiah, was arrested on May 23, 1993, for their involvement in several cases. A total of 23 police, forest and Special Task Force personnel were killed in the blast in the landmine blast alone. He was also involved in killing then STF chief T Harikrishna, sub-inspector Shakeel Ahmed and four others.

On September 29, 2001, Mysuru TADA Court convicted all the four and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. The convicted appealed before the Supreme Court. But, the apex court awarded them death sentence in 2004.

However, the convicted filed mercy petition before the President of India and the application was pending for eight years. The application was quashed in 2013. Later, the Supreme Court converted its earlier order to lifetime imprisonment in 2014.

While Simon died in 2019, Gnanaprakasam and Mesekara Madiah are still in prison. The other cases in which Bilavendran and others were involved are: attack on Ramapura Police station, in which five police personnel were killed; murder of five policemen; and attack on police force, in which IPS officer Gopal Hosur and others sustained injuries.