Why was Z plus security removed when Jaya was in hospital, asks nephew

Chennai: A year after the death of CM J Jayalalithaa, her nephew J Deepak on Monday said the Z plus security personnel were not present at Apollo Hospital when she was admitted there.

In an interview to Tamil television channel Thanthi TV, Deepak, the son of Jayalalithaa's brother, said that she was provided Z plus security and while he had visited Apollo Hospital for 60 days during her 75 day stay, he never saw the central security and wondered why it was removed.

"No minister visited Jayalalithaa when she was in hospital," Deepak said.

Jayalalithaa's close aide of several decades the jailed VK Sasikala had looked after the former very well, Deepak said.

He said during her hospital stay starting September 22, 2016, Jayalalithaa was conscious only for three days.

Deepak said that his aunt was not conscious when Governor C.Vidyasagar Rao and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi visited her, though it was officially said Jayalalithaa showed thumbs-up sign to Governor Rao.

"I haven't signed any papers in Apollo Hospital. Sasikala has signed the papers in the hospital," Deepak said.

According to him, as a relative of Jayalalithaa, he had given the oral sanction to stop the life support systems like ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine.

He also said delinking Sasikala and Dinakaran from AIADMK is good for the party.