Nagappa’s widow Parimala, who won the family’s Hanur constituency on a Janata Dal Secular ticket in 2004, is a member of the current Karnataka legislative Assembly. The Nagappa kidnap occurred exactly two years after Veerappan kidnapped Kannada filmstar Dr Rajkumar and later released him for what is believed to be a huge ransom. Rajkumar died last year due to natural causes.