Indian police have shot dead one of the country's most wanted bandits, who is thought to have killed more than 100 people.
Koose Muniswamy Veerappan - who was in his fifties, sported a long twirling moustache, wore military camouflage and had bloodshot eyes - was dubbed the "Jungle Cat" for his deep knowledge of the forests and his ability to imitate wild animal sounds.
Government officials hailed his killing as a major law and order success, having offered a five million rupee bounty - a high reward by Indian standards.
"It is with a sense of pride and fulfilment 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 the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Ms Jayaram Jayalalithaa.
MsJayalalithaa said three members of Veerappan's gang were also killed in the shootout on Monday night.
The shootout took place in a Tamil Nadu village about 126 kilometres southeast of Bangalore, capital of Karnataka, when Veerappan's gang was travelling in a vehicle, Ms Jayalalithaa said, adding Veerappan did not respond to a call to surrender and fired instead.
Veerappan, who operated from southern jungles and was believed to have ties with Tamil militants, hit world headlines in 2000 when he held film star Rajkumar hostage for 108 days.
He 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 for more than a decade.
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.