Dharmapuri (TN): The 'Operation cocoon' which ended in the killing of notorious forest brigand Veerappan and three others in Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri district last night (Oct 18, 2004), was the result of an 'extra ordinary intelligence operation', K Vijaykumar, chief of the combined Special Task Force (STF) said today (Oct 19, 2004).

The ambulance vehicle in which Veerappan and his gang was encircled was 'our vehicle' and the man who drove the ambulance was a STF man, he said talking to newsmen at Dharmapuri today.

Vijaykumar, an Additional Director General of Police of Tamil Nadu, said last night's operation was not a 'flash in the pan' but one of a joint operation meticulously carried out by both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu STF'. The operation came to an end after a long and desperate wait and a few months of hard work', he said adding that it was a difficult mission and not an easy one.