Abducted Indian star's fans call off rescue bid

Rajkumar, right, and R.R. Gopal on Saturday

August 16, 2000
Web posted at: 8:30 a.m. HKT (0030 GMT)

BANGALORE, India (Reuters) -- Fans of abducted southern Indian film star Rajkumar called off their bid to storm the jungles and rescue their idol on Tuesday, police said.

"They seemed to have called off their plan to enter the jungles and rescue the hostages after Rajkumar's family appealed to them not to do so," a senior police official told Reuters

He said about 50 fans had as a preventive measure been arrested in the southern Mysore city late on Monday when they were on their way to the jungles on the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states.

RESOURCES TIME Asia: Just Like in the Movies

India's most wanted outlaw, Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, on July 30 kidnapped the 72-year-old actor Rajkumar, a veteran of 210 films and a cult figure in Karnataka state, from a remote farm in neighboring Tamil Nadu.

Fans of the superstar, under the banner of the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (KDSS), an organization of low caste Hindus, had on Sunday said that they would enter the forests bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 10 groups of 500 each to secure the release of Rajkumar.

A concerned family member of the abducted superstar had on Monday pleaded with the fans not to enter the forests as it could endanger the hostages.

Last week, Veerappan, who is accused of 120 murders, first issued a list of 10 political demands and followed it up with four more to release Rajkumar.

The governments of the two states agreed to most of the demands, including one to release some extremists now in jail.

A government emissary, R.R. Gopal, a magazine editor who is said to enjoy the bandit's trust, is expected to return to the bandit's jungle hideout by Thursday -- his second trip in two weeks -- with the response of the two state governments.

Veerappan, who has roamed the jungles of southern India for decades, has also been accused of slaughtering 2,000 elephants for their tusks and smuggling ivory and sandalwood worth millions of dollars.

The bandit has also seized three people besides Rajkumar, among them Rajkumar's son-in-law.

The kidnapping initially sparked scattered rioting and violence in Bangalore as the superstar's outraged fans forced a general strike.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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