New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on 21 May 1991 during an election campaign rally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. The assassination was carried out by a suicide bomb attack that killed Gandhi and several others.
Kalaivani Rajaratnam, better known as Dhanu, was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the main assassin. Born in Kaithady Nunavil, Sri Lanka, Dhanu approached the former prime minister at the election rally and detonated the explosive device hidden on her body, killing herself along with Gandhi and others. She was 22.
Over the years, those linked to the conspiracy were arrested, convicted, and, after spending decades in jail, were released.
A look at the key accused and convicts:
V. Sriharan alias Murugan, an LTTE operative from Sri Lanka, was among the key conspirators. Sentenced in 1998, Murugan spent more than 30 years in prison before being released on 12 November 2022 following a Supreme Court order. After his release, he was shifted to a special refugee camp in Tiruchirappalli and was later deported to Sri Lanka in April 2024.
S. Nalini Sriharan, wife of Murugan, was one of the high-profile convicts in the case. An Indian citizen, Nalini was accused of helping the conspirators involved in the assassination plot. She was initially sentenced to death, but the punishment was later reduced to life imprisonment. Nalini was released from prison on 12 November 2022 too, and the couple live together.
T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan, another Sri Lankan national linked to the conspiracy, was also sentenced in 1998. He was released along with the other convicts in November 2022 and later moved to a special refugee camp in Tiruchirappalli. However, Santhan died in February 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai at the age of 55.
Robert Pious, a Sri Lankan national convicted in the case, was also released in 2022 after serving decades in prison. He too was shifted to the Tiruchirappalli refugee camp. In February 2024, he was deported to Sri Lanka.
Jayakumar, the brother-in-law of Robert Pious, was convicted in 1998. Like Robert Pious, Jayakumar was also deported to Sri Lanka in February 2024 after staying at the refugee camp.
Ravichandran was among the convicts released by the Supreme Court in November 2022. He is believed to be living in Tamil Nadu, with an ANI report saying in 2024 that he had opened a book shop in Madurai.
A.G. Perarivalan was handed life term for supplying the 9-volt batteries used in the explosive device that killed Gandhi. Convicted in 1998, he became the first of the seven convicts to be released after the Supreme Court’s ruling. After his release, Perarivalan pursued law, completed his degree from Dr B.R. Ambedkar Law College in Bengaluru, cleared the All India Bar Examination in 2025, and enrolled as an advocate at the Madras High Court. He now focuses on providing legal aid to prisoners.
(Edited by Varnika Dhawan)
Also Read: Rajiv Gandhi is victim of Sangh propaganda. Remember he was 1st PM who held a job, paid tax