'Bandit king' blamed for politician's death

India was agonising anew last night over what to do about its most wanted criminal, the kidnapper, ivory runner and alleged murderer Veerappan, after the discovery of the corpse of his latest captive, a prominent regional politician.

Police confirmed that they had recovered the body of Hannur Nagappa, 66, a former minister in the southern state of Karnataka, who was abducted from a farmhouse in August. The crime has added to the vast list of offences attributed to the "bandit king", which include 100 murders, elephant poaching, smuggling sandalwood, and kidnapping a movie star, later released.

Mr Nagappa was found in the forests in the border area between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where Veerappan has held sway for more than 20 years, eluding numerous attempts to arrest him.

There were conflicting versions last night over how Mr Nagappa died. Reports said that Veerappan had released an audiotape – his usual means of negotiating ransom terms – claiming that his captive had been wounded in an exchange of fire with the Tamil Nadu police.

He reportedly said that he had abandoned the wounded minister in the jungle, but it was unclear whether there had genuinely been a shoot-out.

Veerappan – as he is simply known in India, although his full name is Gopinatham Muzhukkam Veerappan – is linked to extremist Tamil nationalists, who are in a minority in Karnataka. Last night, the state's law enforcement agencies were on alert against possible ethnic violence between the Kannada-speaking majority and the Tamil minority over the minister's death.

It would not be the first time Veerappan has provoked wider social strife. In November 2000, his abduction of the actor Rajkumar, whom he freed after three months, led to rioting in Bangalore, the Karnataka capital, which caused widespread disruption.