Veerappan.

This is coolbert:

Those Maoist insurrectionists of India, forest guerrillas, draw a degree of inspiration not ONLY from Mao, but also from a home-grown phenomenon, the Dacoits of India?

From a prior blog entry heavily edited to include a You Tube short.

"Dacoit . . . means 'a bandit'. ('A member of a class of robbers in India and Burma, who plunder in armed bands.')"

Dacoits, roaming bands of brigands, armed and dangerous. Having the forests of India as a sanctuary. A "phenomenon", actually a tradition, having an ancient lineage? Roaming forest bandits operating in "units"!

A tradition in some ways reminiscent of the hajduks of eastern Europe? One moment a freedom fighter. The next moment a common criminal.

Dacoits, groups of bandits and thugs, even having a para-military aspect to the their gangsterism, engaging in traditional criminal behavior, but with an Indian twist. Banditry and criminal behavior to include:

* Poaching.
* Timber smuggling.
* Extortion.
* Kidnapping for ransom.

The dacoit, operating out of forest sanctuary, in the manner of a guerrilla, most recently epitomized by the "Robin Hood" figure of the recent late [2010] Veerappan.

Veerappan finally tracked down and killed in a gun battle with the Indian Police. Those same folks now in conflict with the Maoist forest guerrillas.

As to Veereppan being a revolutionary the reader to the blog will have to decide for themselves. 

Veerappan in a quite deliberate manner cultivated an image that appealed to a certain spectrum of society?

coolbert.