President Rejects Mercy Petition of Rajiv Killers

President Pratibha Patil has rejected the mercy petition of three men sentenced to death for involvement in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, an official said Thursday. "The president rejected the mercy petition last week," a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said. The petitioners were Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, all linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Murugan belonged to the intelligence wing of the now vanquished LTTE.