Nalini, the lone survived of the Rajib assignation sought freedom

Nalini, the lone survived of the Rajiv Gandhi assignation case has sought freedom and her pleas has been rejected by the Tamilnadu Govt.

Daughter of a sub-inspector and a nurse, Nalini has led an incredible life. After completing graduation in Commerce she started her career as an unassuming private secretary to the managing director of a private company. She came close to Murugan, an active suicide squad member of LTTE. Drawn into the core team that plotted the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, she was even part of the dry run carried out at a meet addressed by V P Singh.

The 43 year old accused sought freedom after spending 19 years in Jail. She had given birth to a girl child in Prison. In her petition she said “Now I am 43 years old, and I do not think that I will live for long. I want to settle in life peacefully”

Nalini is considered the most vital link between the conspiracy and the assassination, for she is the lone surviving member of the five-member squad that travelled to Sriperumpudur to kill Rajiv. The other members of the squad Dhanu, Subha, Sivarasan and the photographer Haribabu died either during the blast or committed suicide using cyanide capsules when cornered later.

According to the CBI, an important provocation for the LTTE to murder Rajiv was the former prime ministers interview to a Hindi daily on August 19,1990,in which Rajiv said he was not in favour of withdrawing the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) from Sri Lanka. The Congress electoral manifesto that year too iterated its commitment to the 1987 Rajiv-Jayavardhana accord as well as the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

In pursuance of the conspiracy, batches of hardcore LTTE commandoes started arriving in India. The first batch of three operatives reached India on September 12,1990.The final batch of battle-hardened LTTE hands, led by Sivarasan, landed on May 1,1991.The human bomb, Dhanu, her close friend Subha,and Santhan, besides three other men were part of that team. They were seen off at Jaffna by LTTEs intelligence wing chief Pottu Amman.

Several locals, including Nalini and freelance photographer Haribabu, were befriended and many hideouts were arranged in residential localities in Chennai during the period.