Earlier, Rajagopal had surrendered before a local court to serve life sentence in a murder case and had been shifted to Vijaya Hospital, after the Madras High Court passed an interim order on a petition filed by his son.
Saravana Bhavan founder P Rajagopal, convicted in a murder case, died at a private hospital in Chennai on Thursday.
Rajagopal, shifted to a private hospital in the city from the state-run Stanley Medical College Hospital following a court direction on Tuesday, died around 10 am Thursday, a source close to him told PTI.
Earlier, Rajagopal had surrendered before a local court to serve life sentence in a murder case and had been shifted to Vijaya Hospital, after the Madras High Court passed an interim order on a petition filed by his son.
Founder of the popular South Indian food chain Saravana Bhavan, Rajagopal had surrendered along with another accused earlier to serve life term after the Supreme Court rejected his plea seeking more time on grounds of ill-health.
While upholding the life sentence awarded to Rajagopal for murdering an employee in October 2001 to marry his wife, the Supreme Court had ordered him to surrender in the trial court on July 7.
Earlier on July 9, a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana dismissed the plea of Rajagopal, saying his illness was not raised before the court during the hearing of the appeal in the case.
Earlier, an apex court bench had dismissed appeals of nine convicts, including Rajagopal, and upheld the Madras High Court verdict awarding life term to them.
The high court had in 2009 enhanced to life term the 10-year imprisonment awarded by a local court to Rajagopal and eight others in the murder case.
Either on the "advice of an astrologer" or "having become besotted with" the wife of his employee Santhakumar, Rajagopal initially attempted to make her his third wife and after failing in his endeavour, plotted abduction and murder of her husband, the top court had noted in its judgement.
"In our considered opinion, the prosecution has proved the complicity of all the appellants in murdering Santhakumar by strangulating him and thereafter throwing the dead body at Tiger Chola," the top court had said in its verdict.
In order to fulfil his desire, Rajagopal used to financially help the woman, her family members and her husband, it had said, adding that the key accused used to talk to the woman on phone frequently and also gave her costly gifts.
On October 1, 2001, Rajagopal got the woman and her husband abducted. The accused first persuaded and then threatened them to separate so that he can marry her. A separate proceeding was on in the abduction case.
Few days later, the victim was again abducted and then killed.
The body was later exhumed at the instance of one of the accused. Post-mortem was conducted and the report suggested that he was strangulated. The Saravana group has over 20 outlets in South India and many others in the north and overseas.
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 "Saravana Bhavan founder Rajagopal dies")
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