The Supreme Court allowed the release of Nalini Sriharan and four others – Murugan, Santhan, Robert Pais, Jaikumar and Ravichandran -- citing their satisfactory behaviour and the fact that they had served over 30 years in prison fin the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
As soon as Nalini Sriharan was released from a prison in Vellore, she went to Vellore central prison where her husband, Murugan was lodged and became emotional upon seeing him.
Murugan, along with Santhan, both Sri Lankan nationals, were taken in a police vehicle following their release to the special refugee camp in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu.
Two other Lankan nationals -- Robert Payas and Jayakumar – who were released from the Puzhal prison, were taken to the special refugee camp in Tiruchirappalli to be lodged there.
After her release from the prison, Nalini Sriharan said, “am thankful to the people of Tamil Nadu who supported me for 32 years. I thank both, the State and Union Government. I will speak about the rest in Chennai tomorrow during Press Meet. Supreme Court lawyers will also speak tomorrow."
CONGRESS REACTS
Rejecting the Supreme Court order to release the Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts, Congress said the decision was "totally unacceptable" and "completely erroneous".
"It is most unfortunate that the Supreme Court has not acted in consonance with the spirit of India on this issue," the party said, tweeting a statement by senior member Jairam Ramesh.
(With agency inputs)
