Violence is feared if tolerance is ruptured between the two communities under focus in this incident: the Kannadigas and the neighbouring Tamils. The kidnapper is a Tamil, and the hostage is a deified Kannada film star, so the situation is potentially explosive. The century-old unresolved conflict between the two communities centres on the sharing of the Cauvery river water.
The film star Rajkumar is either a prized catch or a huge gamble for Veerappan. It is Rajkumar's inextricable association with the history of Karnataka State and the Kannada language in post-Independent India that has etched him permanently in the memories of the people.
In an era of globalisation, when small linguistic communities are striving to retain their identities, Rajkumar is a lone hero of the Kannada people, who has given meaning and confidence to their existence as a community. He has also been a flag-bearer of linguistic nationalism within Karnataka. Another thing that has endeared Rajkumar to the people of Karnataka is his simple lifestyle - his practice of yoga, abstention from alcohol and tobacco and his genuine thirst for anonymity. It is the combination of these sober personal habits and the public composure he maintains that makes him a cultural icon in this part of India and makes his abduction a major issue for governments involved.
And why does Veerappan, an asthmatic, sporting a fearsome moustache on a frail body, seek public attention? What would he do with the ransom money that he might be given, if at all he wants it? What has made him so bitter and ruthless in life? To what end is he using his shrewd native intelligence? People (including victims) who have experienced his austere lifestyle in the thick jungles that surround the hills bordering the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, find these questions hard to answer.
Veerappan, who is past 50, is said to know the 3,000 sq km of scraggy, deciduous forests that he has reigned for nearly a quarter-century like the back of his hand. He is popularly perceived as a Robin Hood to the poor tribal people in the jungles, who are often said to have worked as his informants and sheltered him from the law. The lore is that he is a strict tea-totaler and extremely devout, but he remains an enigma.