This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The trailblazing Indian founder of a global restaurant chain has surrendered to a court after losing a last-ditch attempt to avoid a life sentence for murdering a love rival.

P Rajagopal rose from rags to riches to create the Saravana Bhavan chain, which has more than 80 restaurants in India and around the world, including London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and Stockholm.

He had fought for 15 years to avoid prison since being convicted of the killing of the husband of a woman he wanted to make his third wife, reportedly on the advice of his astrologer.

The 71-year-old, known as the “dosa king” after the south Indian food staple, was meant to have reported to prison on Sunday but made a final plea on medical grounds.

The supreme court in Delhi turned him down on Tuesday and the judges ordered him to “surrender immediately”. He later gave himself up at the high court in Chennai in his native state of Tamil Nadu, arriving in an ambulance with an oxygen mask strapped to his face.

Saravana Bhavan owes its success to catering to Indians and the large diaspora abroad with affordable south Indian delicacies such as dosa pancakes, deep-fried vadas and idli rice cakes.

But Rajagopal’s world came crashing down when he made up his mind to pursue the daughter of one of his legions of adoring employees, believing that she would bring him even greater success.

“He was obsessed with her,” D Suresh Kumar, a Chennai-based journalist, told Agence France-Presse.

The woman, then in her 20s, was already married and rejected Rajagopal’s advances. He targeted her with threats, blackmail and even exorcisms, but when they failed he hired a gunman to kill the woman’s husband.

One attempt was unsuccessful, but the man’s body was later found in a forest in Tamil Nadu.

In 2004, Rajagopal was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years. When he appealed, the sentence was increased to life and the punishment was upheld by the supreme court in March.