Rajiv Gandhi murder case convict Santhan dies in Chennai hospital

Chennai: Santhan, one of the seven convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, died here on Wednesday morning.

A Sri Lankan National, Santhan (54) died to liver failure and other ailments, hospital sources said.

He died at 0750 hrs Wednesday morning.

Santhan, who had served more than 30 years in prison in the case, was referred to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) here last month from Trichy hospital for advanced treatment.

However, despite the best of efforts by the doctors he died on Wednesday morning.

The Rajiv case convicts were awarded death penalty before it was commuted to life sentence. After a long legal battle, all of them were released by the Apex Court.

After recovering from the health complications, Santhan, who was staying in the Tiruchy Refugee camp, was planning to visit Sri Lanka to meet his mother and the Island Government had also given him the nod for the visit.

However, his wish remained unfulfilled and he breathed his last.