Sasikala Back In Bengaluru Jail To Serve 4-Year Term In Disproportionate Assets Case

AIADMK chief VK Sasikala was on Wednesday sent to jail after she surrendered before a trial court in Bengaluru, a day after the Supreme Court restored her conviction in the two-decades-old disproportionate assets case.

Driving from Chennai straight to the court, 60-year-old Sasikala appeared before the special court judge Ashwathnarayana, as the Supreme Court refused to give her a breather rejecting her request for more time to surrender.

Travelling in the same car that Jayalalithaa used, Sasikala arrived at the Central Jail housed at Parappana Agrahara, close to Hosur on Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, towards the evening amid tight security.

Sasikala's relatives VN Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, who were also convicted by the trial court, were also imprisoned after they surrendered and fulfilled court formalities.

She will be in jail for three years and about 11 months out of the four years sentence awarded by the trial court, DG (Prisons) Sathyanarayana Rao told PTI.

She had earlier spent 21 days in Parappana Agrahara jail after conviction by the trial court in September 2014.

Sasikala and Elavarasi would share a small cell in women's block in the jail, Rao said.

He said Sasikala would get normal food, not home food, but it would be according to the doctor's advice.

Sudhakaran would also be sharing the cell with other inmates, he said.

In the commotion that followed after Sasikala's arrival, four cars in her cavalcade were damaged in vandalism, police said but added it was not known who did it.

It was a different scene altogether on Wednesday than when Sasikala came with Jayalalithaa in September 2014 when they were convicted by the trial court and sent to the same jail.

Thousands had gathered then in an emotionally charged atmosphere with AIADMK leaders and MLAs in large numbers but this time it was a subdued atmosphere, with only the media contingent, onlookers and a group of supporters being present.

With the Supreme Court being firm on not giving any more time, Sasikala left Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence in Chennai just before noon and headed to Bengaluru after visiting Jayalalithaa's memorial on Marina Beach where she paid floral tributes to the late leader.

In dramatic gestures, an emotional Sasikala went around the burial site, muttered something and tapped on the tomb thrice and prayed and prostrated.

Sasikala also visited the Ramapuram residence of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran where she briefly meditated before leaving for Bengaluru.

Also Read: Supreme Court Sentences Sasikala To 4-Year Jail Term In Disproportionate Assets Case