I am sure journalists who spoke to Veerappan on the phone, not knowing where he was, found it thrilling," says Tyler, famous in Mumbai as anonymous graffiti artist Tyler Street Art. It's a Skype call on a rainy morning, and this writer is expressing slight discomfort over having to speak to a person whose identity she isn't aware of.

We ask if he is comparing himself to the dreaded sandalwood dacoit who made forests in South India his home. Tyler laughs and says "no, no".