THE gold jewels and silver utensils found in my Poes Garden residence were gifts to my grandfather Dr Rangachari from the Mysore Maharaja. As a surgeon for the Mysore royal family, he was presented with several gifts which I have preserved," says Jayalalitha now languishing in Chennai Central jail.
It is pertinent here to recollect that in 1989, Jayalalitha had declared that she had to sell all her jewels to fund the elections and run the party. But the valuers employed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption (DVAC) are convinced that these valuables are not more than four years old. And most of them must have been bought around July or August 1995, a couple of months before the infamous wedding of her-now-dumped foster son Sudhakaran. Of the 4,000 gold sovereigns and 800 kgs of silver, more than 75 per cent of the articles were bought after March 1995. While initial reports said the net worth of assets identified from Jayalalitha's place, nee palace, were valued at Rs 58 crore, subsequent find-ings of the DVAC and CID reveal that Jayalalitha and her foster sister Sasikala have acquired immoveable properties worth more than Rs 400 crore in the last five years.
The innovative excuse flaunted by Jayal-alitha that the 10,500 sarees and 750 pairs of footwear were part of her costumes from her film days does not hold any water. Film producers never part with 'set properties', an industry euphemism for costumes and footwear, how ever big the star. Further, Jayalalitha stopped acting 20 years ago.
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