Prabhakaran, Amman dead; Rajiv case may be closed

Decks have been cleared for the closure of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case with Sri Lankan government confirming the deaths of two most important conspirators in the case, LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran and its intelligence chief Pottu Amman, formally to India.

Decks have been cleared for the closure of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case with Sri Lankan government confirming the deaths of two most important conspirators in the case, LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran and its intelligence chief Pottu Amman, formally to India.

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New Delhi had asked for the death certificates of the two, immediately after the Lankan army operations against LTTE were over and the demand was taken up with Colombo by a high level delegation of National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and then Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon in May this year.

“A formal determination” of the deaths was done by the Sri Lankan authorities and the same was conveyed to India formally, said a diplomatic source. Now this can bring to Rajiv Gandhi assassination case a sort of closure, he said.

Long before the LTTE was militarily wiped out, India has been demanding the handing over of Prabhakran and Pottu Amman in connection with the assassination of the fomer Prime Minister in May 1991-- from 1995.

“When we raised the issue when Prabhakran was on the run, a senior Lankan officials told us that we would hang him first, then comes the handing over issue”, recalled an official.

The two main conspirators of the case are now “deceased’ and the official confirmation can be passed on to the TADA court in Poonamallee in Tami Nadu that can help the closure of the case, a source said.

The sentencing of 26 convicted persons in the Supreme Court confirmed death for only four,Nalini, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, while awarding life term for three others.