Sasikala out of prison, but hospital stay will continue

BENGALURU: Expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader VK Sasikala was released from judicial custody on Wednesday morning after she completed her four-year prison sentence in a disproportionate assets (DA) case. Sasikala was lodged in judicial custody at the Bengaluru Central Prison since February 2017 along with her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi and nephew Sudhakaran. 

According to sources, a prison officer, accompanied by her lawyer Raja, went inside the Trauma Care Centre (TCC) at Victoria Hospital, where she is being treated for Covid-19, and took her signature for formal release from the prison. “The Covid-19 protocols were followed while completing the release formalities,” the sources said.

The hospital later conducted an RT-PCR test on Sasikala today to check her Covid status. They will repeat the test on January 30, which will be the tenth day since she tested positive. “Sasikala will be discharged from the hospital if two of her tests come negative. She  is stable, conscious, alert and well oriented,” stated the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMRCI) in a health bulletin. The hospital added that the “decision to continue her treatment in Victoria Hospital has been taken by her and her family members.”

Sasikala’s nephew and founder of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), T T V Dhinakaran, along with relatives and party workers, came to Victoria Hospital to celebrate her release from prison. A large crowd, which had gathered outside the hospital, raised slogans in favour of Sasikala and distributed sweets soon after she was formally released from prison.

“Dhinakaran tried to meet his aunt, but was not allowed inside due to Covid-19,” said sources. “Sasikala’s family and party workers have planned to come in large numbers to take her back to Chennai with much fanfare,” they added. On January 20, Sasikala was taken to Bowring Hospital after she had come down with fever, lung infection and breathlessness in the Bengaluru Central Prison. The hospital had conducted an RT-PCR test in which she had tested negative, but her chest X-ray showed lung infection. She was shifted to Victoria Hospital the next day for a CT scan. An RT-PCR test was conducted again and she had tested positive.