Who are the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts, freed by Supreme Court?

All seven were arrested in the weeks and months after Rajiv was assassinated by a suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.

Based on the state government’s recommendation and an appeal by Sonia Gandhi, the Tamil Nadu Governor commuted Nalini’s death sentence in 2000. The other three sentences were commuted in 2014. After a long legal battle involving the state government, Governor, the Union government, and the President of India, Perarivalan was released.

These are the stories of the six convicts released on Friday, based on the CBI’s case diary, the 1999 SC order, and interviews with Perarivalan, who knows all of them.

Accused No. 1: Nalini (57)

Nalini and her husband Murugan were arrested about a month after the assassination. Her confession statement, taken under TADA custody, said she hosted two Sri Lankan women, Subha and Dhanu, who carried out the attack. She was also accused of taking them to buy the clothes they wore on the day of the killing, of knowing their plan in advance, and of accompanying them to Rajiv’s election rally. The chargesheet said Nalini, Subha, and the LTTE mastermind, Sivarasan, fled after Dhanu blew herself up.

While the majority in the three judge SC Bench in 1999 confirmed the capital punishment for Nalini, Justice K T Thomas dissented. Citing evidence, he observed that Nalini was “an obedient participant” who “realised only at Sriperumbudur that Dhanu was going to kill Rajiv Gandhi”. But she could not have retreated because “she was tucked into the tentacles of the conspiracy”, and knew “Sivarasan and Santhan had liquidated those who did not stand by them,” Justice Thomas wrote.

Perarivalan told The Indian Express: “I knew her brother (Bhagyanathan, who was released by the SC in 1999) for two months before the arrest, so I used to visit their house. Seven years elder to me, she (Nalini) used to show the empathy of a sister. A day after I was taken into custody, she shouted at CBI officers, telling them that I knew nothing… I will never forget that.”

Vellore: Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, being released from prison, in Vellore, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. The Supreme Court directed the release of six convicts serving life sentence in the assassination case of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Accused No. 2: Santhan (54)

According to the CBI, Santhan came to Tamil Nadu with Sivarasan in April 1991. The chargesheet described him as a member of the LTTE’s intelligence wing who was close to Sivarasan. In February 1988, Sivarasan suggested that Santhan continue his studies in Madras (Chennai), and in February 1990, he secured admission at Madras Institute of Engineering Technology, where his expenses were met by the LTTE. Santhan was charged for his close association with Sivarasan in the conspiracy to assassinate Rajiv.

Perarivalan, who spent nearly three decades in prison with Santhan, described him as a man “who lives in his own world”. “He never spoke to anyone. He was an excessively religious man who regularly performed puja and rituals, and would sit in the prison temple for almost the entire day,” Perarivalan said. “I think he never responded to letters from his relatives in Sri Lanka, he might have severed all his ties with relatives,” Perarivalan said.

Accused No. 3: Murugan

A Sri Lankan national and “hard-core LTTE activist”, Murugan was a member of the suicide squad from January 1991, as per the prosecution. He was sent to India by LTTE leader Pottu Amman with the job of drawing sketches and taking photographs and videos of key locations, and was received by Sivarasan in India. He befriended Nalini’s brother Bhagyanathan, and subsequently Nalini and her mother Padma. Murugan knew about the arrival of Subha and Dhanu through Sivarasan, according to the case.

Vellore: Nalini Sriharan and V. Sriharan alias Murugan, convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, after being released from their prisons, in Vellore, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. (PTI)

Nalini’s autobiography says she fell in love with Murugan amid her problems with her parents, and that they were shaken after the assassination and travelled to different places to evade arrest.

Perarivalan said he knew Murugan briefly before their arrests. “Even inside jail, we were not great friends. Maybe he was an introvert like me. We were in separate cells, and we did not talk except about administrative issues or petitions related to the case,” he said.

Accused No. 9: Robert Payas

A Sri Lankan citizen, Payas arrived in India on September 20, 1990 with his pregnant wife. Their first child had been killed allegedly in action by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) when she was just a 45-day-old baby. He was arrested on June 18, 1991, and gave statements in TADA custody against the IPKF, and on his close links with the LTTE.

Chennai: Robert Payas, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, being released from the Puzhal prison, in Chennai, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. (PTI)

Perarivalan said he was the closest to Payas among the convicts. “He came to Madras for the second delivery of his wife as northern Lanka was already battered then. Payas’s wife, sister, and the newborn child were in Saidapet jail for a few months before they were let off. The child, born in India, now lives in the Netherlands, and his wife lives in Sri Lanka. What made us best friends was that like me, he too is a non-believer, and we both love books. He was also a celebrated cook in prison during festival days,” Perarivalan said.

Accused No. 10: Jayakumar

A brother-in-law of Payas, Jayakumar was sent to India by the LTTE in 1990, according to the chargesheet. He is said to have arranged a house for some of the accused as they planned the assassination. His wife, an Indian, was among the convicts released in 1999, and now lives in Chennai with their son.

Chennai: Jayakumar, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, being released from the Puzhal prison, in Chennai, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. The Supreme Court directed the release of six convicts serving life sentence in the assassination case of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Perarivalan said Jayakumar is nine years older than him. “We used to play in the prison and talk like friends, even though unlike me, he was an ardent devotee. When my mother came to visit me, he would send someone to find out the colour of her sari — and before I went to see her, he would tell me the colour, claiming that Amman (local deity) had told him the colour of Amma’s (Mother’s) sari!”

Accused No. 16: Ravichandran

He was accused of receiving training in an LTTE camp in India, and then in Sri Lanka. He allegedly met LTTE leaders like Kittu and Baby Subramaniam, and was told by Pottu Amman to help Sivarasan in Madras. He was also tasked with sheltering and helping Sivarasan and others to escape after the assassination.

Tuticorin: Police personnel at the residence of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict Ravichandran, who is out on parole, in Tuticorin district, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.

Perarivalan recalled Ravichandran as a “lonely man”. They rarely had personal exchanges while in prison, he said.