Asiaville Presents Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand, a Thrilling True-crime Audible Original Podcast on the Rise and Fall of The Bandit King of India

Produced by Asiaville, this Audible Original podcast brings an immersive listening experience around Veerappans emergence and dramatic death. Based on IPS K. Vijay Kumar's IPS book, which relives the various incidents that shaped Veerappans life, from his birth in Gopinatham in 1952 to his death in a shootout in Padi in 2004, the heinous murders and high-profile kidnappings that Veerappan was responsible.

In the recent history, Veerappan is the only bandit who grabbed the publics interest to a great extent, as he was infamous for kidnapping, elephant poaching and sandalwood smuggling. Even since his death 13 years ago, Veerappan continues to captivate people, either because of his signature moustache, the tales of his daring exploits, or his controversial encounter.

Tuhin Menon, Founder and CEO, Asiaville, brings the book to life with his engaging, episodic, and engrossing narration. The book is chronicled by K. Vijay Kumar, IPS, the man who spearheaded the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) that planned and executed the dreaded bandits encounter and relives the various incidents that shaped Veerappans life, from his birth in Gopinatham in 1952 to his death in a shootout in Padi in 2004. It details his meteoric climb from a low-level poacher and sandalwood trafficker to a vicious fugitive who held three states hostage for a combined twenty years while demanding a ransom. Veerappans horrible murders and high-profile kidnappings are described in a way that is both shocking and fascinating. This includes the 108-day ordeal in which the late Dr. Rajkumar, a superstar in the Kannada film industry, was kidnapped.

An adaptation of the book, the original podcast is replete with fantastic background music and sound design and has been divided into episodes for maximum listening propensity. Speaking at the launch, K Vijay Kumar, IPS, said, "The podcast is our attempt to reach millennials and gen z listeners. Todays youngsters would have been exposed to a sufficient number of members of ISIS and other terrorist groups. However, the bandit, often called The Bandit King of India, remains unknown to many. On the one hand, Veerappan was portrayed as a Robin Hood whom cold-hearted state agents persecuted, but on the other, he was portrayed as a brutal killer whose machete was always dripping with blood. This Audible Original podcast will help listeners understand him and our efforts of the Special Task Force better."

Tuhin Menon, Founder and CEO, Asiaville, who has lent his voice to the podcast, said, "This is an engrossing story of a team led by IPS Vijay Kumar that refused to accept defeat in the face of indomitable odds and, in the end, succeeded in their conquest to end the decades-long reign of the notorious forest brigand Veerappan. We have attempted to tell the story using immersive storytelling devices that plunge the listener into the heart of this gripping story, which for the most part, lies deep in the forests of the border states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, where the dreaded bandit wreaked havoc on an unimaginable scale. This is, ultimately, a homage to the bravery of the teams, led by Vijay Kumar, whose dogged pursuit of their wily foe never dimmed, giving us all a story of courage and inspiration for generations to come."

Ridhima Thakral, Director of Content, Audible India, said, "We are excited about bringing Asiaville produced true-crime Audible Original podcast Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand, for our members. The podcast is an extremely authentic account of the life and death of a very powerful brigand and we are confident that both the exciting, fast paced storyline and engaging narration will intrigue our listeners in India."

About Asiaville

Asiaville is a creator economy venture focused on the 1.3 billion vernacular language internet users consuming content online in India. Its Founders are Tuhin Menon, former president of Culture Machine, and Sashi Kumar, Founder of Asianet and the Asian College of Journalism. Asiaville has more than 120 million monthly users and more than 80 million monthly video views across platforms in Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi because it focuses on creators, community, and business. Its custom app, AyeVee, launched earlier this year with the goal of expanding the creator economy across vernacular languages, allowing creators across verticals and audience sizes to effectively monetise their content while also growing their respective communities.

For more information, please visit: ayevee.com.

About Audible

Audible, an Amazon company, is a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible.in content includes more than 200,000 audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals. Audible has millions of members around the world who subscribe to one of 10 localised services designed for customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the US. Audible members download nearly 4 billion hours of content annually and listen across a wide range of supported devices.

For more information, please visit: rb.gy/qbauf3.