P Rajagopal (72), founder of the vegetarian restaurant chain Saravana Bhavan, died on Thursday at a private hospital in Chennai following a cardiac arrest.
On July 9, he had surrendered before a magistrate’s court in Chennai, after the Apex Court confirmed the Madras High Court order that sentenced him and five others to life imprisonment for killing one of his employees in 2001 to marry the victim’s wife.
Rajagopal’s appeal against the Madras High Court order upholding the trial court’s judgment convicting him was rejected by the Supreme Court in March 2019 and it ordered him to surrender before the trial court. The Supreme Court also rejected Rajagopal’s plea seeking more time to surrender on grounds of ill-health.
Rajagopal was shifted from the government-run Stanley Medical College Hospital following a High Court order after his sons’ appeal that his father’s condition was deteriorating.
Saravana Bhavan owns and runs 20 restaurants in Chennai, and two in New Delhi. Saravana Bhavan has expanded to the US, Europe and Asia, and has 23 franchise outlets across the three continents.
Besides his wife, Rajagopal is survived by two sons, who have been managing the restaurant business.