What happened on Sept 22, 2016: Sasikala, Jaya doc’s versions vary

According to sources, major discrepancies have arisen in the testimonies by two of Jayalalithaa’s closest confidantes – her aide VK Sasikala and personal doctor KS Sivakumar – to the one-man Justice A Arumughaswamy commission probing the former CM’s death.

Sources close to the commission claimed that the recollections of the two people

— who were present at the time when Jayalalithaa fell ill at her Poes Garden home and was rushed to Apollo Hospital on the night of September 22, 2016 — had stark differences.

Their testimonies differ on five counts, including the presence of two house helps when Jayalalithaa collapsed.

While Sivakumar claimed that two helpers, who were unknown to him, were present when he arrived at Poes Garden, Sasikala’s statement made no such reference to the house helps.

There was also a discrepancy pertaining to the presence of officials who were present outside the ICU on the night of September 22.

While Sasikala claimed that chief secretary Rama Mohan Rao, advisor Sheela Balakrishnan and top police officials were present and acknowledged by Jayalalithaa with a nod, Sivakumar’s statement does not mention the presence of any government official at that time.

When DT Next contacted TTV Dhinakaran’s camp, a close associate said, “We have no connection with the probe, and can’t comment on it without knowing all the CHENNAI: Despite being coached facts.”