Chennai, Nov.18 :     Raj Kumar has been freed but the mystery surrounding his release continues. After the drama over the lady doctor, it's the Karnataka granite lobby which now appears to be taking credit for the star's safe return. Some family members of Bhanu - the lady doctor at whose suggestion Raj Kumar feigned illness before Veerappan - have been quoted as saying that it was because her granite business in Krishnagiri, near the Karnataka border, had suffered that she readily agreed to visit the actor in the forests at a time when his health was causing concern. Bhanu's business partner R. Ramkumar, the son of retired Karnataka director-general of police Ramalingam, also accompanied the emissaries to the forest. According to the doctor, Tamil nationalist leader and chief negotiator P. Nedumaran was a family friend of Ramalingam and it was at his instance that she decided to join the team. 'He wanted a Bangalore-based doctor to check Raj Kumar's health and convince Veerappan of the urgent need to release the actor,' Bhanu has said in an interview. Most of the Karnataka-based Tamils who went with the negotiators have links with the granite trade, besides being sympathetic to the LTTE cause. Sources said Kolathur Mani, a Tamil nationalist known to be close to the LTTE, had roped Bhanu into the team with the help of a transporter from whom she used to hire trucks regularly. The transporter has also a strong votary of the Sri Lankan Tigers. That apart, quarry operators on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border have been paying protection money to Veerappan's gang for years. Puneet Rajkumar, a son of the actor, is himself a quarry operator. Some unconfirmed reports suggested that Puneet had refused to pay Veerappan, which led the bandit to abduct his father. Another source said the Bangalore-based team had been waiting in the forests for Nedumaran and Veerappan handed over his two captives as soon as the three emissaries reached his hide-out. 'The deal had been clinched much earlier,' the source said.