Santhan, acquitted in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, died, breathed his last in the hospital

Santhan, an acquitted convict in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, died at Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. MT Santhan alias T Suthenthiraraja, a Sri Lankan citizen, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. Santhan had written a letter appealing for his return home after his release order in 2022.

In fact, on November 11, 2022, the Supreme Court ordered the release of 6 convicts serving life imprisonment in the former PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The day after the order was issued, Nalini, Sriharan, Santhan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran, found guilty in the murder case, were released from jail after 32 years. Everyone was released but a problem stuck. Nalini and Ravichandran were allowed to visit their families but the remaining four were kept in a special camp in Trichy Central Jail. The reason behind this decision was that all four (Sreeharan, Santhan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar) were Sri Lankan citizens.

A few days ago, Santhan had written an open letter from his cell in the special camp of Trichy jail. Santhan had said in this letter that he could not even see sunlight. Through this letter, he appealed to Tamils around the world to raise their voice so that he could return to his country, but this could not happen.