Dies the owner of the popular Saravana Bhavan chain of restaurants died on Thursday in hospital a week after he surrendered to serve a life sentence for murder.
It was only on July 10 that the 72-year-old Rajagopal had 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. He had been admitted to a private hospital after his surrender.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in an abduction and murder case. , died in a private hospital in Chennai on Thursday. He passed away at around 10.30 am on Thursday. support temporarily. Rajagopal, who was admitted to Stanley Medical College Hospital, Chennai owing to health complications was shifted to a private hospital recently after his son requested the court to grant him permission to move his father to a private hospital, after he claimed that Stanley hospital did not have adequate facilities to treat Rajagopal.
Rajagopal was convicted to ten years rigorous imprisonment by a sessions court for the abduction and murder of a man named Prince Santhakumar in 2001. Rajagopal allegedly wanted to marry Jeevajyothi, Santhakumar’s wife, based on the advice of an astrologer. Despite Jeevajyothi’s resistance, Rajagopal continued to pursue and harass her and her husband.
Rajagopal had appealed against the decision of the sessions court in the Madras High court, which revised the sentence to life imprisonment. He challenged the sentence in Supreme Court, and after much delay, the Supreme Court upheld the life imprisonment.
Rajagopal had started Saravana Bhavan, a chain of vegetarian restaurants, in Chennai in 1981. From one outlet in Chennai, Saravana Bhavan hotels are now spread in over 15 countries across the world..
–India Legal Bureau