3 ex-convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination return to Sri Lanka
Three men, who were convicted in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, departed for Colombo on Wednesday. The trio—Murugan, Robert Payas, and Jayakumar—was released in November 2022 due to their commendable conduct during imprisonment and a recommendation from the Tamil Nadu government. They were escorted to Chennai International Airport under police supervision from a special camp in Tiruchirappalli where they were temporarily housed. All of them were recently granted passports by Sri Lanka, their native country.
Visuals: Muguran, Robert and Jayakumar leave for Sri Lanka
Murugan is married to Indian national
One of them, Murugan, is married to Nalini, an Indian national who was also among the six people released in 2022. Three decades ago, Nalini was spared from capital punishment due to intervention by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi upon learning that she was pregnant during her trial. Since her release, she has made several attempts to secure a visa for the reunion with her daughter, who is now a practicing physician in the United Kingdom (UK).
Seven convicts were released in 2022
Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991. Seven people—Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Nalini, Robert, Jayakumar, and Ravichandran—were convicted in the case. While Nalini's death sentence was commuted to life in 2000, Murugan and two others were spared of capital punishment in 2014. In June 2022, AG Perarivalan was released and months later, in November, the remaining six convicts were granted freedom by the Supreme Court.
Why was Rajiv Gandhi assassinated?
A woman suicide bomber who assassinated Gandhi using her RDX-laden belt was identified as Dhanu, an operative of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE wanted revenge against the Indian government's decision to send troops to Sri Lanka. The LTTE was fighting for an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast part of the island against the historic persecution of Sri Lankan Tamils.
