Sonia condoles death of Rajkumar

Bangalore, Apr 13 (UNI) All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi has condoled the death of Dadasaheb Phalke awardee and Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar, who died of a cardiac arrest here yesterday.

In a letter to the actor's wife Parvathamma, a copy of which was released to the media here, she said ''with his death, Indian cinema has lost one of its titans and the country one of its great artistes. His loss will be mourned not just among his millions of fans in Karnataka, but throughout India.'' Stating that Rajkumar's status was heightened by the courage and dignity he displayed during his abduction by forest brigand Veerappan in June 2000, Ms Gandhi said ''it was these qualities that perhaps shamed his captor into releasing him unharmed, though I have no doubt this terrible episode took a toll on his health.'' UNI MSP GD HS HT1707