Rajiv Gandhi's assassin Nalini may be set free after 19 years

Vellore, Jan 21 (ANI): Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassin, Nalini Sriharan, who has spent around nineteen years in the Vellore prison, may be released prematurely.

An advisory board constituted by the Tamil Nadu Government met in Vellore on Wednesday to consider Nalini's plea for release.

The District Collector of Vellore, who heads the Committee, is likely to forward his recommendation to the Tamil Nadu Government today.

The State Government can either accept or reject the recommendation, but a final call on the whole matter will be taken by the Central Government.

The board is also considering the premature release of ten others, three of whom are connected to the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Nalini appeared before the board on Wednesday.

A favourable report by the probation officer and the fact that she has already spent nearly 19 years in prison weighed heavily on the minds of board members, claimed sources.

Sriharan was arrested on June 14, 1991 and was sentenced to death along with 25 others by a Special Court on January 28, 1998.

Later, the Governor of Tamil Nadu commuted her death sentence to life sentence based on Nalini's clemency plea, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's statements and advice from the state cabinet, in April 2000. (ANI)