44 Years After Lord Mountbatten's Killing, Ex-IRA Man Claims He 'Blew Up' India's Last Viceroy

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Lord Mountbatten, India's last viceroy.

Photo : AFP

New Delhi: India's last viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, was killed in a blast that took place on his pleasure boat in August 1979. Now, nearly 44 years after the incident, an ex-Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander has confessed to planning the assassination of King Charles's beloved great-uncle.

A report in The Daily Mail stated that in a development that could hurt the King, Michael Hayes callously boasted that he designed the explosive device that killed Lord Mountbatten, planned and executive as he was masterminded the atrocity.

Lord Mountbatten was last viceroy of India who was witness to India's independence on Aug 15, 1947. He was murdered at the age of 79 after IRA blew up his pleasure boat during a holiday at his summer home on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland, in August 1979, the report added.

It added that only one member of the IRA was ever convicted. He was Thomas McMahon, arrested on the day of the blast and sent to prison for life but later released under the Good Friday Agreement.

However, when asked by a reporter, Hayes said: "I blew up Earl Mountbatten". IRA reportedly killed him because they opposed the Northern Ireland being part of England. They wished to send a strong message.

In the tragic attack, not only Mountbatten but his 83- year-old wife, grandson 14-year-old Nicholas and one more kid died. Now, with the fresh confession out, the agencies might held him liable for prosecution for the murders, the Daily Mail added.

What Did Hayes Say

Speaking of his gruesome plan, Hayes said he did not regret killing Lord Mountbatten and called the deaths of two teenage boys as 'casualties of war'. People in the knowledge asked the police to 'immediately' investigate Hayes.

"The sensational, shocking and blood-curdling statement by a self-confessed, cold-blooded murderer ought to be immediately investigated by the police and the man brought to justice," they said, quoted the report.

A grandfather now, Hayes live alone in Dublin and was previously named as one of four men behind the 1974 IRA Birmingham bombings. He reportedly took 'collective responsibility' for all of the IRA's actions in England, the report further said.

However, he was never before linked with the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the others who died in the attack. Speaking to the reporter, Hayes revealed that he was McMahon's 'commanding officer'.

"Tom McMahon, he was only a participant. I am an explosives expert, I am renowned. I was trained in Libya. I trained there as an explosives expert," he was quoted as saying.

On the question of who designed the bomb, Hayes proudly said, "Yes, I blew him up. McMahon put it on his boat ... I planned everything, I am commander in chief."