At a glance: Indian politicians who were assassinated

New Delhi, Feb 23: Assassinations of politicians take place throughout the world and India is no exception. There can be different motives behind wiping out politicians - it could be political revenge or for the purpose of reaping political benefit. Let's have a look at a list of major Indian leaders, whose lives were snuffed out by assassins: 1. Mahatma Gandhi: Soon after India gained independence on August 15, 1947 millions of people became homeless, thousands of their womenfolk were raped, and both the new-born nations, India and Pakistan went through the agony of Partition. In the surcharged milieu, Mahatma Gandhi tried his best to stop riots, so much so that he was in Noakhali, East Pakistan on the night when India was celebrating its independence. Gandhi had also favoured the idea of handing over money receivable by the Pakistan government from India because of transfer of assets. This infuriated Nathuram Godse and and his associates who planned to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse. He was shot 3 times in the chest with a Beretta M1934 semi-automatic pistol. According to the FIR, Gandhi's last words while dying were ``Hey Ram''. Godse surrendered after shooting Gandhi. He did not move or try to run away. He underwent a trial. Godse was hanged to death on November 15, 1949. 2. Indira Gandhi: Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi ordered the launch of Operation Bluestar to eliminate Sikh separatists led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from Golden Temple in Amritsar in June, 1984. Within four months, on October 31st, 1984, she was shot dead by her bodyguards.Indira Gandhi was heading towards her office at the Prime Minister's residence on Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. As she walked through the gate fortified by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, both fired at her. Beant singh fired three times at her abdomen. After she fell down, she was fired 30 times by Satwant Singh from a Sten gun. After the shooting both threw guns on the ground. Both were arrested. Indira Gandhi was admitted to Delhi's AIIMS where she succumbed to injuries. Her son Rajiv Gandhi, who was in West Bengal on that day, returned. He was sworn in Prime Minister the same evening by President Giani Zail Singh. Anti-Sikh riots broke out in Delhi, Kanpur, Bokaro and other cities in which several thousand Sikhs were killed. While Beant Singh was shot to death on the spot by ITBP guards, Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh were hanged to death in 1989. 3. Rajiv Gandhi: Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on his campaign trip to Sriperumbudur, near Chennai on May 20, 1990. He was killed by a suicide bomber called Thenmozhi Rajaratnam a.k.a Dhanu. The attack was planned and executed by LTTE. The militant Sri Lankan Ramil outfit had vowed to take revenge after Rajiv's government sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force to fight LTTE militants in Sri Lanka. Following his death, a state funeral was held in Delhi in 1991. The LTTE intelligence chief who planned the suicide bombing was killed in a shootout in Bangalore later. 4. Phoolan Devi: She was a dacoit turned politician. She contested election in 1996 for the 11th Lok Sabha election from Samajwadi Party and won from Mirzapur constituency. She was a sitting member of Parliament when she was killed outside her official bungalow.On July 25th, 2001, Phoolan Devi was killed by firing of 5 bullets, 3 in her head and 2 in her body. The gunmen ran away after firing in a Maruti car but the main accused, Sher Singh Rana later surrendered. According to him, Phoolan's assassination took place to take revenge for the Behmai massaccare in which she had killed 22 Thakurs. 5. Lalit Maken: The Congress leader lost his life because of his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He was shot dead on July 31, 1985 outside his residence in New Delhi. His wife, Gitanjali also died in the firing. Lalit Maken was shot while he was moving out towards his car. The three gunmen, Harjinder Singh Jinda, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Ranjit Singh Gill opened fire at Maken even when he was running to cover himself. Both of them died.Sukhdev Singh Sukha was arrested in 1986 and Harjinder Singh Jinda was arrested in 1987. They were sentenced to death and were hanged in 1992 in Pune. Gill was arrested in USA and deported to India and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003. 6. Abdul Ghani Lone: A lawyer by profession, Abdul Ghani Lone was a prominent Kashmiri separatist. He was shot dead in the presence of tight security and a huge crowd of almost five thousand people. Shockingly, the two people who open fired at Lone were in police uniform and threw hand grenades before fleeing. Initially, he was a supporter of militancy but later he reformed and toned down his attitude towards militancy. He vouched for Kashmir as an independent state. The killers were never caught. 7. Pratap Singh Kairon: The former chief minister of Punjab faced many charges of corruption which were inquired by an inquiry commission during Nehru's period. Following the charges, he had to resign from the post of Chief Minister. On February 6, 1965, he was killed by Sucha Singh in his car on the highway while Kairon was on his way to Amritsar from Delhi. Sucha Singh was given death sentence. 8. Lalit Narayan Mishra: L N Mishra was the power behind Indira Gandhi's throne during the Seventies. A shrewd politician from Bihar, he served as the railway minister. He was on a tour to Samastipur to unveil the new Samastipur- Muzaffarpur broad gauge railway line, when a blast took place on the dais. Mishra was critically injured and he died the next day in Danapur Railway hospital. The reasons behind his tragic death still remain under cover. 9. Krishnanand Rai: He served as Member Parliament for three years from Ghazipur district in UP. He was a prominent leader of BJP from Uttar Pradesh. He was assassinated in 2005 while he was on a tour to his village. He was informed by STF well in advance about the threat to his life. The assassination was planned in a way to ensure that he visit a cricket match in Baswania. It was made sure that he did not visit the place in his bullet proof car and not surrounded by proper security. His convoy was shot with AK47 rifles. 21 bullets hit him. Next day his body was brought to Varanasi for the last rites to be performed.A public fury was witnessed following his assassination. CBI inquiry was demanded by senior BJP leaders. FIRs were lodged against Mukhtar Ansari, the main presparator of the assassination. The main 4 accused Mukhtar Ansari, Afzal, Jiva and Aijaz are spending their days in Ghazipur jail.