Long-Sought Bandit Slain in Indian Jungle

India’s most wanted bandit, accused of chopping up many of the more than 100 people he reportedly killed, was slain Monday in a jungle shootout with police after more than two decades on the run, authorities said.

Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, who grabbed headlines in 2000 when he held Indian film star Rajkumar hostage for 108 days, was slain in the southern state of Tamil Nadu along with three companions.

Veerappan -- who was in his 50s, sported a long, twirling mustache, wore military camouflage and often had bloodshot eyes -- was dubbed “Jungle Cat” for his deep knowledge of the forests and his ability to imitate wild animal sounds.

Government officials hailed the slaying as a major law-and-order success, having offered a reward of $410,000 two years ago for information on Veerappan.

“It is with a sense of pride and fulfillment that I wish to announce ... the good news that the notorious forest brigand, bandit, murderer and dacoit Veerappan, along with his entire gang, has been shot dead,” said the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayaram Jayalalitha.

Veerappan was once seen by local people as a modern-day Robin Hood and eluded troops and police in the vast jungles straddling the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Indian media reports said he chopped rivals into several pieces before throwing them into rivers, shot and killed policemen as they slept and once beheaded a senior forest official.

He was accused of smuggling ivory from 2,000 slaughtered elephants.

Since 1990, state governments had spent nearly $30 million looking for Veerappan.