Tamil Nadu government on Saturday begin preparatory steps to convert late chief minister and AIADMK supremo chief Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence into a memorial.
Chennai district collector accompanied by revenue divisional officer, public works department and police officers visited Jayalalithaa's residence on Saturday morning. But the presence of Income Tax department officials created a flutter as the news of fresh searches spread. However, it was clarified that the IT officials accompanied the state government officials to ensure that the two rooms of Sasikala, that were sealed by them, were not opened.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami in August announced that the government would take over Jayalalithaa's residence to convert it into a memorial.
Chennai collector Anbuselvan said the inspection was part of the move to take possession of the residence to convert into a memorial. "Since two rooms in the house were sealed by the IT officials, we asked them to accompany us during the inspection," he said, adding they had taken the measurement of the extent of land and building construction.
Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa had moved Madras High Court against the government order claiming that she and her brother were successors to her estate. She had filed a petition stated that her paternal grandmother Vedavalli alias Sandhya had purchased several properties in and around Chennai and died in 1971 leaving behind her son Jayakumar and daughter Jayalalithaa as successors to her estate.
Deepa claimed that her father got married after her grandmother's death and lived in a joint family with his wife, children as well as his sister (Jayalalithaa) in the same house for a long time. She had said that it was only for the sake of convenience that the family had to move to the present residence at T Nagar.
