Sasikala's Brother V Divaharan Claims Jayalalithaa Died a Day Earlier Than Officially Announced

Chennai: VK Sasikala’s brother V Divaharan on Wednesday sensationally claimed on Wednesday that former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa died one day before it was officially announced.

Divaharan made the claim during a function marking the birth anniversary of AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran in Mannargudi.

“When Amma died, I left from here (Mannargudi).I left on the night of December 4. Amma died on at 5:15 pm because of a massive cardiac arrest,” he said.

“They kept her on a machine. I asked them why they kept her on a machine and even shouted at them. Apollo's Reddy told me first ensure safety of our branches in Tamil Nadu. Only then, we will declare," he added.

Reacting to Divaharan’s claim, Apollo Hospitals issued a statement, saying, “It is unfortunate that unnecessary confusion is being created based on misinformation about the date and time of the demise of our former chief minister Selvi J Jayalalithaa who had expired on December 5, 2016.”

“During the course of treatment, all clinical procedures and norms were followed. Declaration of the unfortunate death was done as per standard clinical protocols,” the statement added.

This claim hasn't gone down well with the TTV Dinakaran camp of the AIADMK as well. Thanga Thamizhselvan, a disqualified MLA and a TTV loyalist said, "How did he know what happened inside Apollo Hospitals? Whatever Divaharan said on stage is punishable."

There have been conspiracy theories doing the rounds since Jayalalithaa’s death was declared on December 5, 2016. To dispel all doubt surrounding her death, the state government ended up appointing an inquiry committee to look into the matter.

However, it further complicated matters when Dr Sudha Seshayyan, who performed embalming on J Jayalalithaa had appeared before the inquiry commission led by a retired high court judge Arumugasami. She told reporters, “They called me at 10:30 pm on December after Jayalalithaa passed away. I reached the hospital at 11:40 pm. At 12:20 am, the embalming process began."

Apollo press release that was issued after Jayalalithaa’s death said that she passed away at 11:30 pm on December 5, one hour later from what Seshayyan told reporters.