India bandit issues demands

Officials in India say the man behind the kidnapping of the film star Rajkumar has issued a list of demands for his safe release.

The actor and three relatives were kidnapped by India's most wanted criminal, Veerappan, from their home in southern Tamil Nadu state last Sunday.

The officials said they could not yet disclose Veerappan's demands.

On Friday, the authorities were given an audio cassette in which Rajkumar appealed to the authorities to grant Veerappan an amnesty.

Veerappan and his gang have been active in the jungles of southern India for twenty years.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service