The Congress subsequently brought down the United Front (UF) government of I K Gujral after the report was leaked in November 1998. 5,000 [5][6], Rajiv Gandhi was busy election-campaigning with G.K.Moopanar in southern states of India. [50][51], Months before the assassination, VazhappadyK.Ramamurthy, who served as the president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee from 1989 to 1994, produced a letter, purportedly from the LTTE threatening to kill him and RajivGandhi, who had called for a tight clamp down of the LTTE activities in Tamil Nadu. Also other strong LTTE sympathizers Vaiko with MDMK and Thol. [25] Additionally, the Rajiv Gandhi administration had antagonised other Tamil militant organisations like PLOTE for reversingthemilitarycoup in Maldives back in 1988. Here is a look back at the traumatic incident. Terrorism experts insist that anyone in such an involved conspiracy is acting of her own volition. A state funeral was held for Rajiv Gandhi on 24 May 1991. Thirumavalavan with VCK have supported Congress under Sonia Gandhi in the past. Ms A. Athirai, an accused, was 17 years old when she was arrested. "There is evidence to show that, during this period, some of the most vital wireless messages were passed between the LTTE operatives based in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna. [26], The judgment further cited the death of Thileepan in a hunger strike and the suicide by 12 LTTE cadres in a vessel in October 1987. [20], The interim report of Justice Milap Chand Jain, looking into the conspiracy angle to the assassination, indicted the DMK for colluding with the LTTE. [1], Apart from the suicide bomber Kalaivani Rajaratnam, several people were killed in the blast on 21 May 1991:[1][10][11], Around forty-three bystanders including police sub-inspector Anushiya Daisy were also injured in the explosion.[13]. [34] Confessions given by the accused to the Superintendent of Police are taken as evidence against the accused under TADA. The assassination was caught on film by a local photographer, Haribabu,[9] whose camera and film was found intact at the site despite him also dying in the blast. However, this latest goof-up by the central agency indicates that little has been done to correct the errors. 02:53. However, on 21 May 1991,. In the Rajiv Gandhi case, confessions by the accused formed a major part of the evidence in the judgment against them which they later claimed was taken under duress. Will be in Basel with Premier Research this week for the #DIA !! | LTTE | Operation Blue Star | Indian Politics, Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi - Why LTTE leader Prabhakaran was angry with India? Premier Research is attending the #DIA in Basel this week !!! Birthday: - Date of Death: May 21, 1991 Age at Death: - The fact is she had died in the explosion that killed Gandhi on May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. Consider the aforementioned Rajaratnam, who went by the nom de guerre Dhanu. ! Jayakumar - The brother in law of Robert Pious. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, occurred as a result of a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, India on 21 May 1991. In 1991, she was sent to kill Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India in a suicide bombing in response to his deployment of Indian Army peacekeepers to the island during the Sri Lankan Civil War, heading to kill him at the village of Sriperumbudur (25 miles from Chennai) while he was at a rally. However, the court confirmed that the death sentence was given to only four of the convicts, including Nalini, on 11 May 1999. Published: 21st May 2018 07:29 AM| in. Thenmozhi "Gayatri" Rajaratnam aka Dhanu (Tamil: "" ; died 21 May 1991) was the . The SIT probe confirmed the role of the LTTE in the assassination,[19] which was upheld by the Supreme Court of India. The assassin, Dhanu (Thenmozhi Rajaratnam), approached and greeted him. After garlanding Rajiv, Rajaratnam evidently stooped to touch his feet and activated the explosive. "There is evidence to show that, during this period, some of the most vital wireless messages were passed between the LTTE operatives based in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna. Assassinations of high-level officials are far harder to carry out than random attacks on marketplaces or transportation hubs, and Dhanu worked with a large team of accomplices that carried out dry runs at the site. Pronunciation of Thenmozhi Rajaratnam with 2 audio pronunciations. In 2010, Nalini had moved the Madras High Court seeking release as she had served more than 20 years in prison. A statefuneral was held for Rajiv Gandhi on 24 May 1991. Follow us for updates, India's manufacturing PMI hits four-monthhigh in April, Tamil Nadu government withdraws contentious bill on flexible working hours. Subramanian Swamy said in his book, Sri Lanka in Crisis: India's Options (2007), that an LTTE delegation had met Rajiv Gandhi on 5 March 1991. The assassination was carried out by Kalaivani Rajaratnam. Nalini - Wife of Murugan. If you continue to interfere, your comrade Parasuraman of Ambattur who sneaked to the police about our presence there, will not be alive", In a 2011 interview, Kumaran Pathmanathan, who was the Treasurer of LTTE and its chief arms procurer, apologized to India for Velupillai Prabhakaran's "mistake" of killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. She "regrets" the killing of the former Prime Minister and claims that the real conspirators have not been booked yet. Thenmozhi "Gayatri" Rajaratnam (died 21 May 1991) was the assassin who killed Rajiv Gandhi, herself, and 14 others in a suicide bombing on May 21, 1991, in the Indian town of Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, near Chennai. Jayakumar - The brother in law of Robert Pious. Gandhi also defended the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord in the same interview. Do not interfere with our activities. To some degree, the Boko Haram incidents break with the pattern from Sri Lanka and Chechnya. Immediately after the assassination, the Chandrasekhar government handed the investigation over to the CBI on 22 May 1991. Also other strong LTTE sympathizers Vaiko with MDMK and Thol. [17] He was cremated on the banks of the river Yamuna, near the cremation spot of his mother, brother and grandfather. As per the SupremeCourtofIndia judgment, by JudgeK.T.Thomas, the killing was carried out due to personal animosity of the LTTE chief Prabhakaran towards RajivGandhi arising from his sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka and the alleged IPKFatrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils. His involvement was only declared in 2016 after about a 15-year speculation. Thirumavalavan with VCK have supported Congress under Sonia Gandhi in the past. With Wynk Music, you will not only enjoy your favourite MP3 songs online, but you will also have access to our hottest playlists such as English Songs, Hindi Songs, Malayalam . IN NEWSI. Rajiv Gandhi Memorial path, this was the path that Gandhi took before being assassinated. The trial was conducted under the TerroristandDisruptiveActivitiesAct. [21], "LTTE and Punjab ultras spoke of a plan to assassinate Rajiv. The weblink titled Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has been recently put up by the agency on its web portal www.cbi.nic.in. [32] The trial was held behind closed doors, in camera, and the identity of witnesses was not disclosed. But in her way, the Tamil Tiger terrorist -- who blew up herself, the Indian leader Rajiv Gandhi and 13 others in May 1991 -- has perhaps had the largest lasting influence. | Express Photo, Nalini, another accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, can be seen here. [51] The interim report of the Jain Commission created a storm when it accused M. Karunanidhi the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu of a role in the assassination, leading to Congress withdrawing its support for the I. K. Gujral government and fresh elections in 1998. Sources have indicated that Gandhi was repeatedly informed that there was a threat to his life and that he should not travel to Tamil Nadu. | Express photo, The India-brokered attempt peace was not to the liking of the Sinhalese as well the LTTE. Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank calls PM Modi 'nalayak', Locals remember 'doctor sahib' and his family killed in Ludhiana gas leak incident, Police stop A R Rahman's Pune concert citing 10 pm deadline, 'Reduce our working hours! She argued that even life convicts were released after 14 years. She was the south Chennai district chief of the Mahila Congress and was standing close to former PM Rajiv Gandhi when Dhanu alias Thenmozhi Rajaratnam detonated an RDX-laden belt bomb. The party also demanded the removal of DMK from the UF government, arguing that it had played a key role in the death of Rajiv Gandhi. The first two levels were Quranic training. The court convicted and sentenced the seven persons who facilitated the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi to life imprisonment. [15], Following his assassination, Rajiv Gandhi's mutilated body was airlifted to New Delhi. Rajiv, Begum and 15 others were killed. [7] When Rajiv reached a campaign rally in Sriperumbudur, he left his car and began walking towards the dais where he was to deliver a speech. [1] She was born on 1 January 1974 in Sri Lanka. Nalini was . According to Mr Pape and his team, they are most prevalent in situations where a population feels that its homeland is being occupied by an invading force, usually of a different ethnicity or religion. Thereafter, the Justice J.S.Verma Commission was formed to look into the security lapses that contributed to the killing. An LTTE activist named Thenmozhi Rajaratnam detonated an RDX-laden suicide belt while greeting Rajiv at a function. [31] Human rights groups protested that the trial did not meet the standards of a free trial. In 2006, LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham told the Indian television channel NDTV that the killing was a "great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy which we deeply regret". In Image: Rajiv Gandhi with Panrutti Ramachandran having talks with LTTE supremo Prabakaran | PTI, Prabhakaran (2nd from right) is seen along with other LTTE leaders in Jaffna after they announced a surrender of arms to the Indian Army under a peace accord | PTI/AP, The VP Singh-led National Front government, which came to power in 1989 was short-lived and the LTTE feared the comeback of Rajiv Gandhi. Thought to have been a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), Rajaratnam was also known as Gayatri and Dhanu. In 2010, Nalini had moved the Madras High Court seeking release as she had served more than 20 years in prison. Difficult. This was evidence to the Jain Committee's report and suspicions that the LTTE had contacted Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala along with Jagjit Singh Chohan to plan the plot. [27][28] Judge Thomas further stated that conspiracy was hatched in stages commencing from 1987 and that it spanned several years. The letter further said the following:[52], "We were made to vacate Ambattur. Judge Wadhwa further stated there was nothing on record to show that the intention to kill Rajiv Gandhi was to overawe the government. [57][58], Template:Sri Lankan Civil War Themozhi Rajaratnam was born in 1974 in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka to a family of Hindu Tamils; she was the daughter of a man named Rajaratnam and his second wife. After having goofed up on the 50 most wanted list earlier this year, the agency has scored another major blooper. Vaiko left the UPA alliance before the 2009 election, partly due to the Sri Lankan issue. [2] At least 14 others, in addition to RajivGandhi, were killed. The CBI says the designated TADA Court in Chennai awarded death sentences to all the 26 accused. [37] The execution of the three convicts was scheduled for 9 September 2011. The mother of a woman who died in Bangkok seven years ago and is suspected to be the 15th victim of "Aem Cyanide" meets police. Seven pillars surround the site of the blast, at the, Assassination in India; Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated in bombing at campaign stop; India puts off rest of voting, Supreme Court of India, State Of Tamil Nadu Through vs Nalini And 25 Others on 11 May 1999, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "1991: Bomb kills India's former leader Rajiv Gandhi", "Assassination in India; Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated in bombing at campaign stop", "A Chance To Be Near The People New Campaigning Style Put Gandhi In Crowds", "A look back at Rajiv Gandhi assassination: Rare images from the past", "The others who died with Rajiv Gandhi: Families talk of struggle, neglect", "Remembering Rajiv Gandhi: What exactly happened on that fateful night of May 21 in Madras and New Delhi", "LTTE key suspect in Rajiv Gandhi assassination probe", "Women Power: Living with grit and painful memories", "Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and its aftermath", "Mastermind of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, Sivarasan, is a man with many names", "Rajiv Gandhi assassination: Dhanu, the first-ever human bomb in Sri Lanka's history", "Rajiv Gandhi murder: Who are the 7 convicts the TN govt wants to free?-India News, Firstpost", "Death Reference Case No.