chennai:

Three men convicted for their role in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi traveled to Colombo on Wednesday morning. Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar were among the six people released in November 2022 by the Supreme Court, which said they had shown “satisfactory conduct” in jail and noted that Tamil Nadu The German government recommended their release.

The three men were escorted to the Chennai International Airport by a team of police from a special camp in Tiruchirappalli where they were being held after their release from jail in the early hours of today. The men, all Sri Lankan nationals, had recently obtained passports issued by the island nation.

One of the six, Murugan, is married to Indian citizen Nalini, who was among the six released in 2022 on a Supreme Court order. Nalini accompanied her husband to the airport; the video shows she sat with him for a while before he was taken into the terminal.

Thirty years ago, the intervention of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, the late Prime Minister’s widow, saved Nalini’s life – she and others were sentenced to death – because she became pregnant during the sentencing. Her daughter is now a doctor in the UK.

Read | Supreme Court frees 6 Rajiv Gandhi killers, including Nalini

Others had their death sentences commuted by the Supreme Court on the grounds that the president delayed excessively in processing their clemency requests.

Nalini is trying to get a visa to reunite with her daughter. Her brother Packianathan told NDTV, “…we want Murugan to get it from Colombo too. They just want family reunion.”

Read | Rajiv Gandhi assassin appears in court over British passport

Sansom, another of the six released two years ago, died in a hospital in Chennai. He had been undergoing treatment for liver disease. He is also a Sri Lankan national.

Read | Rajiv Gandhi case convict dies.He will be released in 2022

The first convict to be released was Peralivaran, who was also an Indian citizen. He was released in May 2022.

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