VELLORE: A day after the SC announced the premature release of convicts in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi, visuals of Nalini Srihahran walking out of the Vellore Jail emerged. She was one of the six whom the Supreme court used its extraordinary powers on Friday to set her free.
Nalini on parole for a month under heavy security was taken to Katpadi police station to sign, Later in the evening, she was taken to the Vellore prison to complete the formalities pertaining to her release.
After spending almost 3 decades in prison Nalini, the SC granted all six convicts in Rajiv Gandhi Assassination a relief before term. Besides Nalini, Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas, and RP Ravichandran were also freed. Copies of the order by the apex court were also forwarded to the Puzhal and Madurai central prisons where the remaining convicts were lodged.
On Friday, the top court had set free the six, who were serving life imprisonment for about three decades in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying that the convicts showed “satisfactory behaviour”. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group from neighboring Sri Lanka, during an election rally.
Nalini’s husband V Sriharan alias Murugan, Santhan, Robert Payas, and Jayakumar are Sri Lankans while Nalini and R P Ravichandran, belong to Tamil Nadu. The seven convicts were earlier sentenced to death for their role in the assassination.