Three ex-convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case return to Sri Lanka

Three Sri Lankans, who were convicted in the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and prematurely freed from prison, returned to the island on Wednesday (03).

According to Ada Derana correspondent, the trio – Murugan (53), Robert Payas (53) and Jayakumar (62) – reached the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake on Wednesday afternoon after departing Chennai, India around 11.30 IST.

They were among six freed in November 2022 by the Indian Supreme Court, which had said they showed “satisfactory behaviour” while in jail and also noted the Tamil Nadu government had recommended their release.

Upon their release from jail, the three men were escorted from a special camp in Tiruchirappalli, where they had been detained, to the Chennai International Airport by a team of police officers in the morning. They had recently been granted passports by Sri Lanka to facilitate their return.

One of the six - Murugan - is married to Nalini, an Indian citizen who was among the six released in 2022 on the Supreme Court’s orders. Nalini accompanied her husband to the airport; visuals showed her sitting with him for a few moments before he was taken into the terminal.

Three decades ago, an intervention by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, the late Prime Minister’s widow, spared Nalini’s life - she, and the others, had been sentenced to death - after it emerged she had been pregnant during the sentencing. Her daughter is now a doctor in the United Kingdom.

The death sentences of the others was commuted by the top court, citing an inordinate delay by the President in disposing off their mercy pleas.

Nalini is attempting to secure a visa for the reunion with her daughter. Her brother, Packianathan, told NDTV, “... we hope Murugan will also get it from Colombo. They just want the family reunion.”

Another of the six released two years ago - Santhan - died in a Chennai hospital. He had been receiving treatment for a liver condition. He too was a Sri Lankan national.

The first of the convicts released was Perarivalan, also an Indian citizen. He was released in May 2022.

--with inputs from agencies