Perarivalan attacked by inmate in Vellore prison

Perarivalan, serving life term for his involvement in the assassination case, was attacked with an iron rod by Rajesh Khanna, around 7 am, when he was walking in the prison yard. Officials declined to spell out details of the incident, including the reason for the attack, maintaining that an inquiry by prison authorities was on. Perarivalan was treated at the prison hospital for superficial injuries, police said. 

Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991 and seven persons-- Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Nalini, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran, were convicted in the case. Nalini’s death sentence was commuted to life in 2000. The Supreme Court had commuted the death sentence of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan in February 2014 following delay in deciding on their mercy plea. The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to remit the sentences of all the seven convicts is pending in the Supreme Court.