Tamil Nadu: CPI asks CM to release Rajiv Gandhi case convicts on parole

With seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case set to complete 25 year of imprisonment on June 11, the CPI has urged the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to initiate steps for their parole as well as permanent release.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan on Thursday in a statement, recalled the unanimous resolution adopted by the State Assembly few months ago and urged the Centre to release them on humanitarian grounds. The leader also pointed out that there were several legal avenues to release them.

The seven convicts - V Sriharan alias Murugan, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan, A G Perarivalan alias Arivu, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Nalini are lodged in Tamil Nadu prisons for the past 25 years.

The Tamil Nadu government government had in March 2016 sent a letter to the Central government to remit the sentence of life imprisonment of all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and release them and also sought the Centre’s views on the move.