BANGALORE, India Indian film star Rajkumar was released by a jungle bandit on Wednesday after 108 days in captivity, a senior government official in the southern state of Karnataka said.
The 72-year-old idol's release brings to an end a saga which had sparked rioting in the city of Bangalore and plunged the authorities into a legal tangle over the demands of his captor, infamous bandit Koose Muniswamy Veerappan.
"We have heard that he has been set free and he has been taken to a guest house near erode town," the official in the state chief minister's office told Reuters.
Erode is in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, at the edge of the dense jungle in which India's most-wanted outlaw was holding the veteran of 210 Kannada-language films.
Jubilant fans of the actor burst firecrackers and handed out sweets to passers-by in Bangalore, capital of Karnataka, while police stepped up a vigil to prevent any disturbances.
"We don't expect any problems since they (fans) are rejoicing ... but we are making all arrangements to ensure that there are no problems," a senior police official said.
Officials said they had no information on what led Veerappan to release Rajkumar despite his key demands not being met.
Government sources had said earlier in the day that Rajkumar's release was likely in a day or two and that the breakthrough was probably due to independent efforts of his family and the film industry to negotiate with Veerappan.
Another source in the state government had said the actor was probably being released due to his failing health.
Rajkumar in Good Health However, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi told reporters in Madras that he had spoken to Rajkumar over the phone and that the actor was tired but in good health.
"He said he would be leaving for Bangalore either today or tomorrow," Karunanidhi said.
Karunanidhi confirmed that Veerappan had also released Nagesh, a relative of Rajkumar who had been taken hostage with the actor.
Government officials said Rajkumar, who suffers from hypertension and knee-joint pain, was being attended to by a team of doctors and was expected to reach Bangalore in the evening.
Rajkumar was seized with three others by Veerappan from a remote farmhouse in Tamil Nadu on July 30.
One of the four, an assistant film director, escaped from the jungle in September. Another, the actor's son-in-law, was freed last month due to ill-health.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said he was happy Rajkumar had been set free.
(Reuter)