One of the Rajiv Gandhi case convicts RP Ravichandran has on Saturday donated Rs 5,000 to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Ravichandran has been serving a life term imprisonment for the last 29 years after getting convicted for assassinating the then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. 

Ravichandran is one of the seven convicts in the case and all the convicts are serving a life term in various prisons in Tamil Nadu. Ravichandran is currently incarcerated at Madurai central prison and according to his counsel T Thirumurugan, Ravichandran has donated Rs 5000, which he earned inside the prison, to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund. 

Thirumurugan said that the amount has been deposited online in the name of Mr. Ravichandran on Saturday. The counsel further said that this was not the first time the convict had donated his money for a cause. He had already donated Rs 20,000 for the establishment of a chair to promote Tamil studies at Harvard University and donated another Rs 5,000 during the Gaja cyclone. 

The development has come when the Chief Minister's Relief Fund has been getting filled with donations from several people including Kollywood celebrities and entrepreneurs. On Saturday, reputed lyricist Vairamuthu has donated Rs 5 lakh to the Chief Minister's fund to fight COVID-19 by meeting MK Stalin. Earlier, actor Ajith has contributed Rs 25 lakh to the public fund. 

Significantly, Ajith had in April last year made a donation worth Rs 1.25 crore to PM Cares Fund and Rs 50 lakh to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Relief Fund. He also had Rs 25 lakh to the Film Employees Federation of South India. Apart from Ajith, Superstar Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya has contributed Rs 1 crore to the CMPRF on Friday. According to reports close to the developments, Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya has donated Rs 1 crore to Tamil Nadu COVID-19 relief funds on behalf of her husband Vishagan's pharma company.

Veteran director AR Murugadoss too has donated Rs 25 lakhs to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund. Earlier, reputed actor Sivakumar and his sons' actors Suriya and Karthi had met Chief Minister MK Stalin at the Chief Secretariat on May 12 and handed over a cheque worth Rs 1 crore. The Sivakumar family has also urged everyone to contribute to the relief fund. Several social media users had commended the celebrities for contributing to the relief fund.