Santhan, released convict in Rajiv Gandhi assasination case, dies due to illness 

Santhan, released convict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, dies at 55 due to liver failure in Chennai.

Santhan, 55, one of the released convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, died on Wednesday, February morning at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), here

Hospital authorities said he died at 7.50 a.m. He suffered from cryptogenic cirrhosis with liver failure. He was admitted to RGGGH for treatment on January 27., according to sources.

Santhan alias Suthenthiraraja, one of the six released convicts in the assassination case, was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in a critical condition. Santhan, 55, had been referred from the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi.

Originally he was sentenced to death by the trial court and later it was commuted to life-imprisonment. He was released along with Nalini Sriharan, Sriharan alias Murugan, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Jayakumar from different jails, after spending more than 32 years being incarcerated.

He was lodged in the special camp in the Trichy central jail campus, along with Murugan, Jayakumar and Robert Payas, as all of them had no travel documents. The Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Chennai last Friday issued an order deporting Santhan to Sri Lanka.