Chennai, December 4 (The Hindu): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa was shifted back to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on Sunday after she suffered a cardiac arrest.
Initial reports suggested that the Chief Minister was put on life support system though hospital sources maintained that her condition was “stable”.
A late evening press released issued by Apollo Hospitals said, the Chief Minister “suffered a cardiac arrest this evening. She is being treated and monitored by a team of experts including cardiologists, pulmonologists and critical care specialists.”
Hours after she was declared to have completely recovered, Jayalalithaa was back in the Critical Care Unit of Apollo Hospital, where she has been convalescing since September 22.
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao and enquired about the health of the Chief Minister.
Following news of the set back in her condition, violence broke out at the hospital entrance.
Jayalalithaa, who was admitted to the hospital on September 22 with “low grade fever and dehydration”, was subsequently under intensive treatment from specialists and moved to a private ward on November 19.
Several State Ministers, the Chief Secretary and top bureaucrats rushed to the hospital while Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police T.K. Rajendran, who was in Madurai for a review meeting air-dashed to Chennai. An emergency meeting was called at the police HQ.
The entire police strength, including companies of the Armed Reserve and Tamil Nadu Special Police, was being mobilized as a precautionary measure.
Though no formal request was made yet, companies of the Central Reserve Police Force in Tamil Nadu and neighboring States were put on alert, the sources said.
Earlier following her hospitalization, besides doctors at the Apollo Hospital, Dr Richard John Beale, an expert in lung injuries and intensive care management, UK, and specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, were part of the panel of doctors treating her.
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