Padmanabha murder case

Padmanabha murder case was a sensational case during the earlier part of 1990 in Madras in Tamil Nadu, (India) and Sri Lanka. Padmanabha was the leader of EPRLF and he was murdered with 12 of his party men and two commoners in Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu on 19 June 1990. The incident marked the first occasion when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eezham (LTTE), a militant organization, targeted an attack outside Sri Lanka.

The case had lot of political implications as the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu was overturned considered this incident and the assassination of ex-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Pottu Amman (a leader of LTTE), Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan (a DMK minister), Ravichandran (brother of prominent politician Vaiko), the then Home Secretary R. Nagarajan and Chandravadana (wife of Jayabalasingham) were in the list of accused.

A special investigation team was formulated with the name Tamil Nadu Special Investigation Team (TANSIT) by the Government of Tamil Nadu. It framed chargesheet against 22 people. The trial was held in a special TADA court formed in Chennai and 17 accused faced the trial. The court pronounced verdict on 22 November 1998 and sentenced Gundu Santhan and Anandraj to six and five year rigorous imprisonment. The court also ordered the Government of Tamil Nadu to pay a compensation of ₹2 lakh to the family of the deceased.

LTTE is a militant outfit which was fighting for the welfare of the Tamils in northern parts of Sri Lanka, against the suppression by majority Sinhanlese domination. India has active links with Sri Lanka and its politics from historic times and the association continued during the modern times as well. There were other organizations like EPRLF, which was fighting the cause of Tamils in a peaceful manner for Tamil welfare.

Padmanabha was the leader of EPRLF and he was murdered with 12 of his party men and two commoners in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu on 19 June 1990. Padmanabha and the other EPRLF leaders were having a meeting in Zachria Colony in Kodambakkam, a suburb in Chennai. There were two armed men, who came in an Ambassador car, which they earlier stole from Villupuram, a town 160 km (99 mi) from Chennai. Before the inmates could escape, they sprayed bullets on all the 13 men in the house. While escaping, they shot and killed two other pedestrians. Along with Padmanabha, the Finance Minister in the now defunct Northeastern Provincial Council P. Kirubakaran, and Member of Parliament Yogasankari, were also killed.

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