CHENNAI: Santhan alias T. Suthenthiraraja, one of the seven released convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, died at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here on Wednesday. He was 55.
Santhan was admitted to the hospital last month with liver-related ailments and was being treated at the Intensive Care Unit. Santhan who was undergoing treatment for non-alcoholic liver disease suffered cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning and breathed his last at 7.50 a.m, according to doctors.
Among the seven convicts, while A.G. Perarivalan was released by the Supreme Court in May 2022, Santhan and five others were released November that year. All of them were lodged in prison for over 30 years following their arrest and conviction in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Santhan, a Sri Lankan national, had appealed for his return to the island nation to live with his aged mother. During the hearing of a petition he had moved in this regard at the Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu government informed earlier this month that the Sri Lankan government had released necessary travel documents for him to return to the country.
Last week, the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) of the Union Ministry of External Affairs issued an emergency travel document for Santhan, facilitating his immediate deportation to Sri Lanka.