Journalist Neena Gopal, who interviewed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi moments before he was assassinated in 1991, says that India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) may have failed to save the life of Rajiv Gandhi.

In her new book "The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi", Gopal says that the RAW was overconfident about knowing Prabhakaran's intentions.

She reveales that Prabhakaran's former deputy Gopalaswamy Mahendrarajah alias Mahattaya was a RAW mole.

The RAW's ability to cultivate assets in the LTTE was one reason for its overconfidence vis-a-vis the Tigers.

Accordingly, the agency failed to factor that the LTTE leader would avenge the fighting against the Indian military in Sri Lanka by targeting Rajiv Gandhi one day.

Neena Gopal quotes a senior RAW officer as saying: "If we had read the signals right, if we understood what was going on in Prabhakaran's mind, who knows, we could have prevented this.

"It was our fault, we made a huge error of judgement. We misread Prabhakaran. We never believed he would turn against us in this manner. We should have seen it coming. We didn't.

"We failed Rajiv Gandhi, we failed to save his life."

The author had been interviewing Gandhi until he reached the election rally ground at Sriperumpudur near Chennai on the night of May 21, 1991. A little later, Gandhi was killed by a LTTE woman suicide bomber.

She says that Gandhi "had an almost prescient premonition of his own death".

The book says there was complete lack of security at the venue and it was not well lit too, a point even Gandhi noticed.

Gandhi then told the author: "Have you noticed how every time any South Asian leader of any import rises to a position of power or is about to achieve something for himself or his country, he is cut down, attacked, killed...

"Look at Mrs (Indira) Gandhi, Sheikh Mujib, look at Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, at Zia ul-Haq, (S.W.R.D.) Bandaranaike."

The book says: "Within minutes of making that bone-chilling prophetic statement that hinted that there were dark forces at work and he knew he was a target, Rajiv Gandhi himself would be gone."

(With inputs from IANS)