He died in May 1981, a day after being shot and injured an attack by a militant Tamil group.

[2][3] Thiagarajah stood as the All Ceylon Tamil Congress's candidate in Vaddukoddai at the 1970 parliamentary election.

[4] He later defected to the governing Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and voted for the new republican constitution.

[10] Tamil militant groups had warned candidates not to contest for the UNP.

[11] He was shot by the militant People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) on 24 May 1981 as he was addressing an election meeting in Moolai.