Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
21 May in India is observed as Anti-Terrorism Day to commemorate the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by a suicide bomber.
On May 21, 1991, at 10:10p.m., Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, was killed in a bomb blast that occurred during an election rally at Sriperumbudur near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The blast was triggered by Dhanu, a Sri Lankan Tamil suicide bomber who detonated an explosive-laden belt concealed under her dress while stooping to touch his feet. Fifteen people, including Rajiv Gandhi and Dhanu, were killed on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries in hospital; 44 were injured.
The assassination was carried out by the Liberation of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Tamil terrorist outfit operating in Sri Lanka, who opposed the deployment of the military contingent Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka as part of the agreement between the two governments when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister. With the elections near, the LTTE feared that Rajiv Gandhi's return to power would result in a return of the IPKF and a crackdown on the LTTE network in India.
The case was immediately entrusted to the CBI, who formed a Special Investigation Team to find the culprits. A 3-month-long hunt ended with the suicide of Sivarasan, the mastermind behind the assassination, along with his chief accomplice Subha and five others when the police closed in on their hideout in Bangalore.
