Akshay Kumar wants to portray police officer K. Vijay Kumar, who is credited with killing sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.

After portraying the character inspired by naval officer K.M. Nanavati in 'Rustom', which won him the National Film Award, Akshay now wants to be the Indian Police Service officer on screen.

Kumar headed the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force that executed Veerappan in 2004, ending the outlaw's decades of terror on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.

On Wednesday, Akshay was present to show his support to security agencies by attending the launch of a book, "Veerappan - Chasing the Brigand", in Mumbai.

Asked which role among the two he would like to play, he said: "Both Veerappan and Vijay Kumar's characters are really interesting but I would love to play the role of Vijay Kumar because the whole planning has been done by him and how brilliantly he executed the entire operation."

The book is a first hand account of Veerappan's end, written by Vijay Kumar himself. The book release was attended by eminent politicians and bureaucrats among others.

Akshay was last seen in 'Naam Shabana' in which he played a RAW agent. He has three releases lined up this year: 'Toilet - Ek Prem Katha', 'Padman' and Rajanikant's 2.o'.

Honoured to be a part of the book launch of the man whom I consider a legend, @KVijayKumarIPS Veerappan #ChasingTheBrigand - a must read! pic.twitter.com/1CMlAN4ItE

— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 19, 2017