Former CBI Superintendent of Police K. Ragothaman, who was part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that investigated the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, passed away in Chennai on Wednesday. The 76-year-old former officer was infected with Covid-19 and was being treated at a private hospital in Chennai.
A post graduate in Economics from Annamalai University in Chidambaram, Ragothaman joined the CBI in 1968 as a sub-inspector. Ragothaman was one of the key officers who probed the Rajiv Gandhi assassination that happened on May 21, 1991. Rajiv was killed by a suicide bomber during an election rally at Sriperumbudur in Chennai.
The high profile investigation was carried out by a team of CBI officials headed by D. Karthikeyan and Ragothaman was part of this team. During his tenure at the CBI for 36 years, Ragothaman spent around 10 years investigating the Rajiv assassination case. He also probed several other high profile cases, including the UGC scam in Delhi, former Karnataka home minister R.L. Jalappa-related murder abetment case and the SPIC case against former BCCI president A.C. Muthiah, for defrauding Syndicate Bank of Rs 102.8 crore. He retired from the CBI as SP in 2006.
A recipient of several medals, Ragothaman won the President's Medal for distinguished service in 1994 and the police medal in 1988. He has authored several books, including Conspiracy to kill Rajiv Gandhi, Third Degree Crime Investigation Management: crime and the criminal in English and Rajiv Kozhi Vazhakku in Tamil.
He has also produced a documentary titled Human Bomb, based on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. His latest book was ‘Rarest of rare cases—Murder of an advocate’.
Ragothaman, whose wife died a few years ago, is survived by his four children.