No bar on deportation of four Rajiv assassination case convicts, process after receipt of travel documents, says Collector

Tiruchi Collector M. Pradeep Kumar said that all steps required for their deportation were being taken up at various levels

Tiruchi Collector M. Pradeep Kumar said on Sunday that the deportation of four convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who have been lodged at a special camp here, would depend on receipt of travel documents from Sri Lankan authorities.

When contacted by The Hindu, he cited the communication from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) of the Bureau of Immigration and said the convicts would be deported once Sri Lanka issued the documents. Till then, they would be kept in the camp.

Asked whether there was any change in the deportation plan after the Union government filed a revision petition at the Supreme Court against the release of the convicts, Mr. Pradeep Kumar said there was no bar on their deportation till date.

All steps required for their deportation were being taken up at various levels, he said, and the Sri Lankan authorities had to issue emergency travel documents.

Jayakumar, one of the four convicts, who was admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital here after he complained of wheezing on Saturday, was discharged on Sunday. He was put through a couple of tests and taken back to the camp.

Another convict in the case Robert Payas, who had reportedly refused food given by the revenue authorities at the special camp, was, however, consuming beverages and snacks, official sources said.