Accused released in Rajiv Gandhi murder case, dies in hospital

CHENNAI: Santhan, who was released from prison in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, passed away Wednesday morning. He died at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai around 7:30 am. He was 55. He was undergoing treatment for liver ailments. He was later diagnosed with cryptogenic cirrhosis.

Santhan was undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Hospital Dean Dr E Theranirajan informed that his condition was critical when admitted and that he suffered a cardiac arrest early this morning.

He died when he was to visit his mother in Sri Lanka through an exit permit. He was allowed to visit his ailing mother following the plea filed in the Madras High Court but due to health problems, his trip got cancelled. The center had issued the exit permit to Tiruchirapalli collector. He died when steps were being taken to send him to Sri Lanka within a week. The body is expected to be taken to Sri Lanka after post mortem.

The investigating officials had found that Santhan was involved in the conspiracy related to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and also in the rescue of the other accused. Santhan, who was sentenced to death, was later commuted to life imprisonment following the Supreme Court verdict. After 32 years in jail, Santhan was released from jail in November 2022 along with the other accused Nalini Sriharan, Sriharan, Robert Pius, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.

The accused released from jail were lodged in a special camp on the Trichy Central Jail campus in Tiruchirappalli as they were Sri Lankan citizens and had no passports or travel documents.