Tamil Nadu Congress likens Rajiv Gandhi case convicts to Ajmal Kasab

Likening the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president today said they did not deserve remission of sentence.

Stating that four out of the seven convicts hailed from Sri Lanka, BS Gnanadesikan said the conspiracy to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi was hatched in Sri Lanka just like the Mumbai attack plan was devised in Pakistan. Hence, it was important to treat the pleas of former prime minster's killers on a separate footing altogether.These convicts do not deserve remission of sentence, aimed at reform and rehabilitation under criminal law, Gnanadesikan said. "Out of the (total) over two dozen accused persons in Rajiv case, 13 were Sri Lankans. They sneaked into India without valid papers and assassinated our beloved leader," he said participating in a protest demonstration organised by the youth Congress here.

Several other leaders of state Congress including former union minister EVKS Elangovan slammed the Tamil Nadu government for its decision to release the convicts. Hundreds of party workers, sporting black badges, chanted slogans that Congress would never allow the convicts' release.