All CCTV cameras in Chennai’s Apollo Hospital, where former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was admitted before her death, were turned off during her 75-day stay at the facility, chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Dr Prathap Reddy told reporters on Thursday, according to NDTV.
Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration on September 22, 2016. She died of a massive cardiac arrest on December 5, 2016.
Reddy’s statement that all CCTV cameras at the hospital were turned off for the entire duration of her stay refutes Jayalalithaa’s former close aide VK Sasikala’s claim that the ailing 69-year-old was videographed in a lucid state four times in hospital and that senior leaders of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had met her.
“Unfortunately, they switched off all the CCTV cameras for all the 75 days,” he said. “They removed the cameras because they did not want everyone to be watching.”
The Apollo chairperson also said that Jayalalithaa was the only patient in the intensive care unit where she was admitted. Other patients at the 24-room ICU were moved to another ward, he told reporters. She was also not allowed any visitors, he added.
Reddy made the statements at a press conference of the Apollo International Colorectal Symposium 2018 in Chennai. He said the hospital had submitted all relevant documents to the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission that is investigating the circumstances around Jayalalithaa’s death, The Times of India reported.
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