The Hunt for Amma's Assets

Jayalalithaa's death triggered  abattle for assets worth thousands of crores. While Sasikala and her family want to have it all, Jaylalithaa's niece and nephew have staked their claim. Now, with the Kodanad murder adding mystery to the mix, THE WEEK visits some of the high-profile properties that are part of Jayalalithaa's legacy.

- Lakshmi Subramanian

On the night of April 23, as the Nilgiris slept peacefully, Om Bahadur stood awake, guarding gate 10 of Kodanad estate. Little did he know that soon, he, too, would go to sleep. Permanently. A little past 1am, two SUVs pulled up outside gate 10, and out jumped 10 masked men. They stormed the gate and assaulted Bahadur, 51, stuffing his mouth with cloth and taping it shut. They then slit his throat and hung him upside down from a tree. A little while ago, at gate 8, the men had tied up, sedated and assaulted Krishna Bahadur, another guard. They had even chopped offhis fingers. Reportedly, the men had come to loot Jayalalithaa’s riches, said to be hidden in the estate. After picking up four watches, a crystal rhinoceros and documents of properties worth thousands of crores, the gang escaped in the waiting SUVs. Though the accused were arrested in the following days, the mystery behind the murder got deeper by the day (see box).

It all began on December 5, when Jayalalithaa died of cardiac arrest, giving birth to not only a fight for her political legacy, but also for the assets she left behind. This includes properties worth ₹113.73 crore, which Jayalalithaa mentioned in an affidavit in 2016, and properties worth thousands of crores, which she and her associates acquired over three decades. Though Jayalalithaa did not directly buy many of the properties, it is believed that she used her confidante Sasikala and her influential Mannargudi family to do so.

The claimants to her legacy include former chief minister O. Panneerselvam, V.K. Sasikala, and two blood relatives—Deepa and Deepak Jayakumar (children of Jayalalithaa’s brother, Jayakumar). Panneerselvam wants her Poes Garden residence to be converted into a memorial, while Sasikala and her family want the properties to stay under their control. Then, there are a few NGOs and activists, who say the properties should go to the government.