AGARTALA, May 21 (TIWN): Along with the nation, Tripura also remembered Former Prime Minister Rajib Gandhi on his death anniversary on Friday who was killed by a suicide bomber during an election rally in Sriprumbudur in Tamil Nadu in the night of May 21, 1991. 

Paying tribute to the former Prime Minister, State Congress President Pijush Biswas along with other Congress leaders, members have hosted the National flag and began the session by singing National anthem, said sources.

The death anniversary of former PM of India, Rajiv Gandhi has been also observed as an Anti Terrorism Day to promote Peace and Harmony all over the Country. It was on May 21, 1991 that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi fell in the trap of terrorists.

The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the ex-Prime Minister of India, occurred as a result of a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India on 21 May 1991. At least 14 others were also killed. It was carried out by Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, also known as Dhanu.

The attack was blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organization from Sri Lanka; at the time India had just ended its involvement, through the Indian Peace Keeping Force, in the Sri Lankan Civil War. Subsequent accusations of conspiracy have been addressed by two commissions of inquiry and have brought down at least one national government

Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning for the upcoming elections. On 21 May, after successfully campaigning in Visakhapatnam, his next stop was Sriperumbudur Tamil Nadu. About two hours after arriving in Madras (now Chennai), Rajiv Gandhi was driven by motorcade in a white Ambassador car to Sriperumbudur, stopping along the way at a few other election campaigning venues. When he reached a campaign rally in Sriperumbudur, he got out of his car and began to walk towards the dais where he would deliver a speech.

Along the way, he was garlanded by many well-wishers, Congress party workers and school children. At 22:21 the assassin, Dhanu, approached and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated an RDX explosive-laden belt tucked below her dress. Gandhi, his assassin and 14 others were killed in the explosion that followed. The assassination was caught on film by a local photographer, whose camera and film was found at the site though the photographer also died in the blast.