P. Rajagopal (businessman)

Pitchai Rajagopal
Rajagopal with his sons in 2010
Born(1947-08-05)5 August 1947[1]
Punnaiyadi, Tuticorin District, Tamil Nadu, India
Died18 July 2019(2019-07-18) (aged 71)[2]
Chennai, India
Known forFounder of Saravana Bhavan
Criminal chargesMurder
Criminal penaltyLife sentence
Children2 sons[3]

Pitchai Rajagopal (5 August 1947 – 18 July 2019) was the founder of the Saravana Bhavan chain of restaurants based in Chennai, India. Born in rural Tamil Nadu into a farming family, and with little education, Rajagopal built a global restaurant chain.

In later life, he was convicted for a 2001 murder, and began serving a life sentence in July 2019.[4] Several days after his imprisonment, he had a heart attack and died.[5]

Early life

Rajagopal was born in Punnaiyadi, a tiny village in Tuticorin District, Tamil Nadu, India.[1] His father was an onion seller; his mother was a homemaker.[1]

Business

In 1973, he moved to Madras and started a general provisions store in K K Nagar. He opened his first restaurant in 1981.[1][6] By 2019, he had expanded to 111 restaurants in 22 countries, employing about 5,000 people. He built a temple in his village called Punnai Sri Srinivasaperumal Kovil.

Murder of Santhakumar

On the advice of an astrologer, he obsessively tried to take Jeevajothi, the daughter of one of his assistant managers, as his third wife, but she was already married and rejected him. He orchestrated multiple threats, beatings, and exorcisms against her and her family. In 2001, after one attempted murder, he successfully orchestrated the murder of her husband, Prince Santhakumar. Santhakumar was kidnapped and his body was found strangled a few days later in a resort town in the Western Ghats mountain range.[7][8]

Life sentence for murder

In 2004, a Chennai court sentenced Rajagopal to 10 years in prison for the murder of Santhakumar. Upon appeal, the Madras High Court upgraded his prison term to a life sentence, upholding the lower court's conviction.[9]

Rajagopal was freed on bail for medical reasons while his case was appealed to the Indian Supreme Court. On 29 March 2019, the Supreme Court of India upheld Rajagopal's murder conviction and life imprisonment.[10][11][12] He was ordered to surrender to the authorities by 7 July 2019,[11] which he did on 9 July 2019. The Supreme Court rejected his request for a bail extension on medical grounds as well as his request that his hospitalization be counted towards his prison sentence.

Death

A heart attack struck Rajagopal on 13 July 2019 after he surrendered to serve his life sentence on 9 July 2019.[13] After transferring from Stanley Medical College Hospital to Vijaya Hospital in Chennai, he died of a heart attack on 18 July 2019.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tsang, Amie (25 July 2019). "P. Rajagopal, Restaurant Mogul Convicted of Murder, Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Saravana Bhavan founder P Rajagopal dies in Chennai". Times of India. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Saravana Bhavan owner sentenced to life". express buzz. 20 March 2009. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Saravana Bhavan murder and the rise and fall of Dosa King". The Times of India.
  5. ^ a b "Saravana Bhawan founder P Rajagopal passes away after heart attack in Chennai". The Economic Times. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Hotel Saravana Bhavan". Chennaibest.com.
  7. ^ "Saravana Bhavan founder gets life term in murder case - TopNews". www.topnews.in. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Saravana Bhavan founder gets life for murder". The Hindu. 19 March 2009.
  9. ^ Romig, Rollo (7 May 2014). "Masala Dosa to Die For". New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Saravana Bhavan founder P Rajagopal sentenced to life for murder, SC upholds conviction". The News Minute. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b "SC upholds life term of Saravana Bhavan owner for employee's murder". indianexpress.com. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  12. ^ "The spectacular fall of India's 'dosa king'". Deccan Herald. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  13. ^ Vasudevan, Lokpria (16 July 2019). "Saravana Bhavan founder P Rajagopal critical, on ventilator". India Today. Retrieved 18 July 2019.