Chennai, March 22:  Amid controversies surrounding All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death, Apollo Hospitals has stunned the nation with its recent revelations. Prathap C Reddy, Founder-Chairman of Apollo Hospitals finally broke out silence on Thursday and said that all CCTV cameras were off during her hospitalisation at the Apollo Hospitals.

“Unfortunately, they (CCTVs) were switched off. Jayalalithaa got admitted and one ICU was completely occupied only by her. So, they removed the footage because they did not want everyone to be watching”, Reddy was quoted by ANI.

Reddy said that CCTV cameras were off during Jayalalithaa’s 75-day hospitalisation at Apollo till before her death on December 5, 2016. The Apollo Chairman said that Jayalalithaa was the only patient occupying the 24-bed intensive care unit. “They removed the camera because they did not want everyone to be watching. No visitors were allowed to meet her”, he informed.

Reddy while speaking to reporters on sidelines of a press conference of the Apollo International Colorectal Symposium 2018 on Thursday informed that the hospital had submitted all relevant documents to the Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of inquiry probing Jayalalithaa's death.

To recall, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister was admitted to the hospital on September 22, 2016 after she complained of dehydration. She suffered a cardiac arrest on December 4 and was declared dead the following day.

According to a report by TOI, when the Chairman was asked if the hospital had submitted the CCTV footages, he said, “I am sorry. Unfortunately, they switched off all the CCTVs for all the 75 days. As soon as she got admitted, the access to the ICU was closed. All patients were diverted to another ICU”.

The Apollo Chairman said that the hospital is ready to appear before the commission when it is summoned. “We have submitted all reports. I do not know the day-to-day developments. If they call us, we are ready to appear before the commission,” Reddy added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 22, 2018 05:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).