It is not easy being a forester where Veerappan operates.

Roving Editor Ramesh Menon pieces together how Veerappan murdered one of the best foresters in Karnataka.

Veerappan plans every murder.

Srinivas was in his 20s when he joined the Indian Forest Service. He loved the forest. It meant a lot to him. He was deeply committed to conservation.

Srinivas wanted to get the villagers to trust the authorities. People had been alienated from the forest department because of police operations to nab Veerappan. Many innocent villagers had got hurt.

His philosophy was simple: Forests can never be protected without the help of villagers.

He worked on befriending the villagers. He stayed in their houses. He listened to them. He tried to find solutions to their problems. He talked the language of conservation. He spoke of why elephants should be allowed to live in an ecosystem, why sandalwood trees should not be cut.

He even started living in Gopinatham, the village where Veerappan grew up.

He tried instilling in the villagers the principle of non-violence.

Srinivas got the kind of response he never thought he would get. That too, in Gopinatham. Villagers loved him. He was one officer who used the special funds sanctioned for operations against Veerappan for the villagers' benefit.

Srinivas saw his network grow. The police had alienated the villagers by oppression and fear. In the bargain, they destroyed their own local intelligence network.

But there seemed to be hope. Srinivas managed to get many aides of Veerappan to surrender.

Veerappan saw that Srinivas was winning over his supporters. The forester was also rapidly growing in stature and authority. He had to eliminate Srinivas.

Veerappan hatched a plan. He said he was also ready to surrender if Srinivas came unarmed.

Srinivas bit the bait and went into the forests.

Strangely, Srinivas got little official support from the Special Task Force.

The police did not like his methods. They had reportedly even spread rumours that he was having an affair with Veerappan's sister in Gopinatham. Unable to bear the stigma kicked up by such talk, she committed suicide.

Srinivas was in his early 30s when he died. With him died the hope of turning the locals against Veerappan.

Even today, the murder of Srinivas haunts the foresters of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

After Rajakumar's kidnapping, the Tamil Nadu government has even indirectly conveyed to its forest staff not to venture into the forest.

There could not have been a softer option.

source : rediff.com