Indian hostage escapes, actor still held

September 29, 2000
Web posted at: 8:45 AM HKT (0045 GMT)

BANGALORE, India (Reuters) -- One of three people abducted with movie icon Rajkumar in southern India eight weeks ago escaped from captivity Thursday, police said.

Police in the southern state of Karnataka said M. Ngappa, an assistant film director, had arrived in Gajanur, a remote village some 125 miles south of Bangalore, late on Thursday evening.

They gave no details of how Ngappa had escaped from bandit Koose Muniswamy Veerappan's jungle hide-out, where he had been held with Rajkumar since their abduction from a farmhouse in Gajanur on July 30.

Veerappan, who is charged with 120 killings, has demanded the release of 56 jailed allies in exchange for the freedom of Rajkumar, 72, a veteran of 210 films.

The authorities bowed to the demands, but India's highest court blocked the prisoner releases after receiving a petition from the father of a Karnataka police inspector killed in a skirmish with Veerappan's gang in 1992.

Earlier Thursday, Bangalore, the state capital, came to a standstill when fans of Rajkumar went on strike to draw the federal government's attention to the long-running kidnapping saga.

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