Sidelined AIADMK leader V K Sasikala’s brother Divakaran on Wednesday said J Jayalalithaa died on December 4 evening, not on December 5 as it was officially announced. At a public meeting at Mannargudi, celebrating AIADMK founder MGR’s 101th birthday, Divakaran said Jayalalithaa died at 5.15pm on December 4. “But she was kept on a machine for one more day. When I asked the reason, they said they wanted to make sure of security, security of Apollo Hospitals,” Divakaran said, kicking up controversy when a commission probing Jayalalithaa’s death is in the process of collecting evidence and statements from people who were close to Tamil Nadu’s late Chief Minister. Even if Divakaran’s statement has triggered speculation and seemingly pointed fingers at Apollo Hospitals and the government administration, the fact that Jayalalithaa was kept on a machine as he referred in the speech is no secret. A day after she suffered a massive cardiac arrest (on December 4), a bulletin from Apollo Hospitals (on December 5), said she “continues to be very critical and is on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and other life support systems”.
