A Death Row inmate recently executed for smuggling a kilogram of cannabis may have been innocent.

Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, had been convicted of conspiracy to smuggle drugs out of Singapore and was sentenced to death over the one kilogram of cannabis allegedly on his person.

The 46-year-old has since been hanged at the Changi Prison Complex on Wednesday, but international bodies have since disputed the man's innocence, with billionaire Richard Branson claiming the man was innocent.

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Singapore Prison Services confirmed the capital sentence had been carried out, with Tangaraju hanged until death in prison on Wednesday, with the United Nations Human Rights office previously involved.

The Human Rights office had previously asked the Singaporean government to "urgently reconsider" the move to execute Tangaraju, a plea which was ignored.

A spokesperson for Singapore Prisons Service has since said: "Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, had his capital sentence carried out today at Changi Prison Complex."

It comes as billionaire Branson wrote a blog post alleging Tangaraju was "not anywhere near" the drugs he had allegedly been smuggling, IndiaToday reported.

Branson, a member of the Geneva-based Global Commission on Drug Policy, wrote at the time of the 46-year-old's arrest and publicised his worries over the death of an innocent man.

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Despite Tangaraju's family appealing for clemency and a retrial over the allegations of drug possession, the Singaporean court doubled down and said guilt had been proven.

A further statement from Singapore's home affairs ministry read: "Tangaraju's guilt had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

It was also claimed that at the time of Tangaraju's arrest, no drugs were found on his person, and that the 46-year-old was not apprehended in the act of selling or delivering drugs, KTTMV reported.

Singapore is notorious for its strict anti-drugs laws, although international bodies around the world called for the execution to be delayed or cancelled.

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