Saravana Bhavan owner Rajagopal dies at the hospital a week after he surrendered to serve the life term in prison for the kidnapping and murder case in 2001.
On July 10, Rajagopal, 72, arrived in an ambulance with an oxygen mask strapped to his face after the Supreme Court turned down his request to delay his sentence on medical grounds.
The case goes way back to 1990s where Rajagopal kidnapped and murdered Santhakumar so that he could marry his young wife.
Santhakumar was married to the daughter of Saravana Bhavan’s Assistant Manager and Rajagopal wanted to marry the girl.
The girl refused and got married to Santhakumar. Rajagopal continued to threaten the family and in the end, the family went to the police. In anger, Rajagopal plotted the murder of Santhakumar within days.
At that time, Rajagopal had two wives already.
According to NDTV, in 2004, Rajagopal was convicted in the kidnapping and murder of an employee, Prince Santhakumar. A local court had sentenced Rajagopal and eight others to 10 years in prison. Five years later, the Madras High Court confirmed the verdict and increased the sentence to life in prison, a punishment then upheld by the Supreme Court in March.
Born to an Onion vendor, Rajagopal made a name for himself with the Saravana Bhavan franchise.
