It's all over for Veerappan--the most dreaded bandit, smuggler, kidnapper, Tamil extremist and what not! Finally, the Special Task Force (STF) that was set up to catch Veerappan has succeeded in eliminating him after an arduous, costliest and the longest manhunt ever in India.

The STF headed by Vijaya Kumar (ADGP Tamil Nadu), shot Veerappan dead in the dark hours of October 18, 2004 near Dharmapuri.

The successful excercise, named 'Operation Cocoon' was a meticulously planned scheme with all the ingenuities of a bollywood thriller.

Though, one can hear several voices commenting on the genuinity of the encounter, the absence of veerappan's famous moustache etc, one thing is clear both the State Governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have heaved a sigh of relief.

On the other hand there are voices that talk more of what could have been done by the STF during this encounter than what has been done. For instance, a retired senior police officer of Karnataka said the STF shot him dead because they didn't want to catch him alive. If they would have caught him alive we would have known the political links Veerappan had in Karnataka and TN.

Now, what anybody would have done after knowing the links of criminals like Abdul Karim Telgi or a Harshad Mehta is anybody's guess.

Anyways, for the record the most cruel (Veerappan is beileved to have strangled his own daughter when she cried, else her cries would help STF to locate him) and a dreaded bandit is no more.

The latest kidnapping opens a virtual Pandora's box for both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments. It is high time that the two states stopped passing the "Veerappan buck" and did some serious work towards apprehending him. In fact, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has already gone on to blame Karnataka for the abduction.

Going by the kidnapping episode of film icon Raj Kumar, one can expect this new drama to continue for a long time.