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New Delhi: From a successful hotelier to a murderer — the story of P Rajagopal, the founder of Saravana Bhavan, a restaurant chain that ruled the hearts of food lovers, is nothing less than a movie. The success story of Rajagopal, whose Saravana Bhavan became a household name in Tamil Nadu and beyond for serving a wide variety of dosas, among other delicacies, took a horrifying turn when he acted upon the advice of an astrologer and decided to marry the daughter of an employee. His obsession led to his downfall.
From Humble Beginnings To Tremendous Rise
Rajagopal, who was the son of an onion farmer in Tuticorin, came to Chennai with the aim of fulfilling his dreams. He started off as a “tea maker” and a helper in a grocery shop, as per a report in The Indian Express. He was the owner of a provision store before entering the restaurant business. Rajagopal, a strong believer in astrology, opened his first restaurant in 1981 on the advice of an astrologer to start a business associated with fire, as per India Today.
As time progressed, Rajagopal enjoyed huge success in his business in Tamil Nadu, after which he never looked back. As his stature began to rise in the restaurant business, he became popularly known by the name, “dosa king”, known for serving best-quality food with no compromise on quality.
Besides his customers, Rajagopal reportedly took great care of his employees by providing them with benefits, housing assistance, and medical care. He also provided employment to the relatives of his workers, as per a report in The New York Times. He would help his employees’ children with books and also give allowances for daughters’ weddings. As a result, he had very loyal employees who would call him “annachi”, meaning elder brother in Tamil.
Astrologer’s Advice And Rajagopal’s Plan
Things started to fall apart for Rajagopal after he became obsessed to marry Jeevajothi, the daughter of Ramasamy, an assistant manager at one of Saravana Bhavan’s Chennai branches. His desire to marry Jeevajothi stemmed from the advice of an astrologer who told him that marrying her would bring him good fortune, The Indian Express reported, citing a senior police officer.
At that time, Rajagopal had already married twice, and his second wife was the wife of a former employee.
According to prosecutors, Rajagopal helped Jeevajothi and her family financially. He used to speak to her over the telephone, give her gifts of jewellery and expensive sarees, and even pay for her medical treatment, as per the IE report.
Rajagopal’s desire to marry Jeevajothi was shattered when he found out about Prince Shanthakumar, a former math tutor she married in 1999. Shanthakumar was working with the Saravana Bhavan chain at the time of marriage.
Rajagopal had wanted to marry Jeevajothi before she tied the knot with Shanthakumar. But she had rejected Rajagopal’s proposal. The hotelier reportedly left no stone unturned to end Jeevajothi’s marriage to Shanthakumar. He even advised the couple to separate, which they refused, the IE report said, citing prosecutors.
“Once she was ill, under the pretext of better treatment as advised by another doctor, Accused No. 1 (Rajagopal) forcefully shifted her to another hospital, where he advised her not to have sexual relations with her husband and made her undergo a series of tests. Santhakumar was instructed to get himself tested for AIDS and other such diseases, which he refused outright,” investigators said, as quoted by IE.
After all efforts went in vain, Rajagopal hatched a plan with his manager Daniel and seven others to kill Shanthakumar.
Rajagopal’s goons abducted the couple. Shanthakumar was murdered on October 24, 2001, and his body was found on the Kodai hills on October 31, 2001.
Rajagopal kept Jeevajyothi under house arrest in Velachery, where a “widow puja” was performed on her, according to a report in The Week. However, Jeevajyothi managed to escape to Vedaranyam, and then filed a police complaint against Rajagopal.
When the news of the murder came to light, Rajagopal, Daniel, and his men surrendered before the Tirunelveli magistrate court, The Week reported.
Shanthakumar’s post-mortem report suggested that he died because of asphyxia due to throttling, as per the India Today report. Soon after, the police discovered the cloth used for the murder.
Court’s Ruling
Rajagopal surrendered on November 23, 2001, but was released on bail. Less than two years later, on July 15, 2003, he was accused of trying to bribe Jeevajothi with Rs 6 lakh, intimidating her, and assaulting her brother Ramkumar, as per the IE report.
In 2004, a sessions court in Chennai convicted Rajagopal and eight others for culpable homicide and awarded them 10 years of imprisonment. The court also fined him Rs 55 lakh, which included Rs 50 lakh as compensation to Jeevajothi.
Rajagopal moved the Madras High Court, but it sentenced him for life in prison in March 2009, saying the trial court had made a mistake by not sentencing him and his co-accused for murder under Section 302 of the IPC, as reported by The Indian Express.
In March 2019, he knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court. But the apex court upheld the decision of the Madras High Court. He had pleaded for more time to surrender, citing his poor health, but the top court rejected his plea.
“In our considered opinion, the prosecution has proved the complicity of all the appellants in murdering Santhakumar by strangulating him and thereafter throwing the dead body at Tiger Chola (in Kodaikanal),” the SC said.
The apex court also stated that the evidence was “natural, consistent, cogent, and probable”, and it did “not find any reason to disagree with the findings arrived at in that regard by the Trial Court as well as by the High Court”.
Death
On July 9, 2019, drama unfolded inside the Madras High Court after Rajagopal entered the court, arriving in an ambulance. He had an oxygen mask on his face. He was admitted to the prison ward of the Stanley Hospital in Chennai, moving him from the Government Stanley Hospital, after the Madras High Court passed an interim order on a petition filed by his son, as reported by PTI.
“Considering the medical reports and the condition of the detenu, we are inclined to permit the transfer,” the High Court bench was quoted as saying. Rajagopal, however, died two days later at Vijaya Health Center in Chennai, after suffering a heart attack.
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