Rajkumar's farmhouse is hauntingly deserted

gajanur: the palatial farmhouse at gajanur is deserted now. twelve months ago, the house was virtually besieged by gun-toting security personnel, curious onlookers and shocked villagers who had seen brigand veerappan in action after a three-year hiatus. now manned by a police officer ofthe assistant sub-inspector's rank with help from a guard of the tamil nadu constabulary, the farmhouse is hauntingly peopled by vacuum.people in the village are waiting for the turn of kannada superstar rajkumar. but the ghost of the july 30 abduction seems to have kept the matinee idol off from the village. shraavanamaasa, an auspiciousmonth in the hindu calendar, sees the rajkumar family pitching camp in itsancestral village and offering prayers at temples. it had been an annual ritual till last year. and this year, the gajanur villagers are greatly disappointed that rajkumar has so far not chosen to keep date with the village deities. sources in the rajkumar family claimed that the actor had sought some changes in the house in tune with vaastu. rajkumar has not beenable to visit the village as the repair work is still on, they said. rajkumar had spent a gruelling 108 days in the jungle before being set free in november. three others were also kidnapped along with the actor. nagaraj, cousin of rajkumar, is more positive. ``annavru had instructed us to shift household articles from the farmhouse (from where he was kidnapped) to the newly built house. we'll complete this during theshraavanamaasa.'' the new house is bang opposite the farmhouse.``rajkumar will soon come here and supervise the shifting of the house.'' the change in calendar does not hold out any promise for the villagers who very well know that veerappan holds, and continues to hold, both the karnataka and tamil nadu governments to ransom and remains elusive. madaiah, a villager, said: ``veerappan still calls the shots from the forest.'' those who had hoped that the special task force will close in on veerappan soon after the release of rajkumar have been let down. the priest of the hanuman temple in the village, who had pledged to perform a special puja on the day rajkumar was set free from the brigand's clutches, is disillusioned. ``i never thought veerappan's arrest will be delayed for so many months. it may never come through now.'' any talk of rajkumar landing in gajanur sends the villagers' excitement soaring. and the policemen,who were almost lynched by angry mobs soon after the kidnap, get jittery before flashing a benign smile. but the nightmare of the eponymous farmhouse refuses to fade away.