Thenmozhi Rajaratnam

Thenmozhi "Gayatri" Rajaratnam Aka Dhanu (Tamil: தேன்மொழி "காயத்திரி" ராசரத்தினம்; died 21 May 1991) was the assassin who killed Rajiv Gandhi, herself, and 14 others in a suicide bombing on May 21, 1991, in the Indian town of Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, near Chennai (see also assassination of Rajiv Gandhi). Thought to have been a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), Rajaratnam was also known as Gayatri and Dhanu. Her birth year has not been conclusively established.

There are many accusations^[1] attributed to the IPKF period where an estimated 16,000 lives were lost, including 2,500 Indian soldiers. It is believed that Dhanu and Sivarasan - the key conspirator of the splinter group were among the militants trained by RAW.^[2]

Background

Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning in Sriperumbudur for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The last time Rajiv had been in power, his government was instrumental in sending a peace keeping force into Sri Lanka to help enforce a peace accord, which earned the ire of various Tamil militant groups. The troops he had sent in 1987 had fought the Tamil separatist guerrillas. ^{[citation needed]}.

Convictions

Seven years later in 1998, an Indian court convicted 26 people in the conspiracy to assassinate Rajiv. Upon appeal, the death sentence of only four of the twenty-six people was upheld.

See also

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
• List of assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil War

External links

• Interim Report of the Jain Commission of Inquiry into the Assassination of Shri Rajiv Gandhi
• Pictures:
  • From left to right : Kokila Vani (Youth Congress Worker), Thenmozhi Rajaratnam (Aka Dhanu, the assassin, disguised with spectacles), Latha Kanan (A Congress volunteer), Sivarasan (The mastermind behind the attack, posed as journalist)^[3]
  • Rajiv Gandhi garlanding crowd before explosion or assassination:^[4]
  • The assassin's severed head after explosion:^[5]

References

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