Chennai, Oct 6 (IANS) DMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi Thursday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi to take steps to release the three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.


"I appeal to the prime Minister and the UPA chairperson on behalf of DMK to take steps to release the three convicts lodged in the jail for over 20 years," Karunanidhi said in a statement.

Karunanidhi said Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan are in jail for more than 20 years and there are demands from different quarters that the centre and the state government release them.

He also said there has been a demand that the Tamil Nadu cabinet pass a resolution to commute their death sentence into life imprisonment.

According to him, since the state government is not passing any resolution, the central government should take necessary steps for the prisoners' release.

On Aug 11, President Pratibha Patil rejected the mercy petitions of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan - all linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - relating to their death sentence for their involvement in Gandhi's 1991 assassination.

Rajiv Gandhi, who was prime minister 1984-89, was killed by a suicide bomber called Dhanu at an election rally in Sriperumbudur near Chennai May 21, 1991.

Fourteen other people also lost their lives in the blast.

The three condemned prisoners were due to hang Sep 9 but the hanging was stayed by the Madras High Court for eight weeks.

Tamil Nadu assembly has passed a resolution appealing to the president to commute their death sentences.