Rajiv Gandhi's Assassination Part 02

This series of blogs explains various dimensions of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. Though LTTE carried out the assassination, they were just hitmen contracted by someone very powerful. 

The real conspirators, planners and financiers were different people. They were hiding behind layers of curtains and virtually untraceable. After assassination, they executed a perfect plan to cover their tracks. Hence they cannot be traced but one can make a logical conclusion about the main kingpin. 

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Part 2….

In the last part we talked about Karunanidhi’s disposition before Verma commission. 

4) Let’s understand how Rajiv’s meeting was arranged in Sri Perambuddur on that fateful day. 

The election campaigning was going on and Rajiv was traveling all over India. All his meetings were centrally planned and coordinated by the Congress party headquarters in Delhi. 

The meeting at Sri Perambuddur was not initially planned by the party or scheduled by them. The original plan for 21st May 1991 was, to go to Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad and return to Delhi. Then how his meeting at Sri Perambuddur was finalized?

One old lady named Margatham Chandrashekhar was contesting from Sri Perambuddur. She was an old timer in congress party, a Gandhi family acquaintance and a confidante of Indira Gandhi. Rajiv used to call her Aunty! This lady met Rajiv and pressed him to have a meeting in her constituency. Rajiv agreed for a meeting in her constituency. 

But no one in congress party’s Delhi office or TN congress party had any clue of such a meeting being scheduled. They came to know only 7 days before the meeting!  

This was a serious breach of security because IB and RAW had warned Rajiv Gandhi to stay away from Tamil Nadu state during the election campaigning. They had analyzed a threat perception of 90% if Rajiv visited TN. This threat was known to everyone in the congress party.

But then, why no one from Rajiv’s advisers told him not to go to TN, in view of impending serious threat to his life? Rajiv himself might have overlooked the threat because he was fooled by the LTTE meetings earlier, but was it not the duty of others to warn him?

Earlier the plan was to make a night halt in a bungalow at Sri Parambuddur, but IB objected to this plan because the bungalow was in a remote place and they could not secure it. Hence the plan was changed. Rajiv was then going to Raj Bhavan in Chennai  for night halt. 

Later it was revealed that, the backup plan was to kill Rajiv in this bungalow in Sri Perambuddur at night, if Dhanu failed to kill him in the meeting. The plan was full proof, ensuring Rajiv would not go back alive. 

5) let’s see how the security plan at the meeting venue was…

The human bomber Dhanu, kingpin Sivrasan, Nalini and others entered the meeting venue well before the time. The police had setup metal detectors for the entry and were checking every person entering. Then how come Dhanu could enter with the bomb?

Agreed, she was carrying plastic bomb which was undetectable in those days but the wires, detonators and the batteries should have been detected. They are metals….

How she was allowed to enter with the explosives?

The kingpin Sivrasan, who had dressed like a journalist, was carrying a German automatic revolver. 

How these two could enter the venue with deadly weapons?

6) The human bomb Dhanu and Naline were allowed to enter the restricted area with the recommendation of Congress party worker named Kannan. This congress worker was close supporter of congress candidate Margathem Chandrashekhar. 

Unfortunately Kannan did not survive to explain why she recommended Dhanu to enter restricted area. Who told her to take Dhanu inside the security barricade?

There was a big lapse of security in allowing Dhanu and her team to enter the restricted area. This was never probed. 

7) As per the security norms, VVIP are never parades within the crowds. Their motorcade stops near the podium, from there they directly go to the meeting venue, get down and drive the car outside the meeting venue. They are never exposed within the public. 

But at Sri Perambuddur this did not happen. Rajiv’s car stopped outside the area where all public was waiting for him. He was thus forced to walk through the crowds to reach the podium. 

As per the security norm, no one is allowed to enter the red carpet area on which VVIP is walking. Then how come Dhanu and few others were allowed to stand in that area? The public was barricaded from entering red carpet area but then how come Dhanu was allowed to go beyond barricade? Who gave them the permission?

Who decided that Rajiv should walk within the crowd by breaching the security procedure?

8) This is shocking…..

When Rajiv reached the meeting venue and got down from the car, he was surrounded by the local TN congress leaders like G. K. Moopnar, Jayanti Natarajan, Margatham Chandrashekhar and others. 

All of them were trying to go close to Rajiv to show their closeness. They all started walking on the red carpet with Rajiv. 

But surprisingly, just few minutes later, when the blast occurred, none of these leaders were killed or injured. How that is possible? The 18 people who were killed were all civilians and police people. None of local congress leaders or congress worker had even had a scratch….

Is it not strange? How come no one was injured from Congress Party?

When Verma commission asked this question, Moopnar said, he had gone forward to see everything on the stage was set correctly. Jayanti Natarajan said, while she was walking with Rajiv on the red carpet, Rajiv told her to go back to the car and take care of the foreign journalists who were traveling with him. And so on…..everyone gave a lame excuse.

But it is strange that no congress leader was harmed in that bomb blast….?

More details in the next update…

Till then take care