New Delhi, November 5: In a major move, Income Tax department in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday attached properties worth Rs 1,600 crore of former Chief Minister Jayalalitha's close aide VK Sasikala under provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, according to sources. The agency found that properties worth Rs 1,500 crore were procured using in demonetised notes under fictitious names. 'Sasikala Got 5 Rooms in Jail, One Convict to Cook for Her Despite No Provision for Cooking’, Says RTI Activist N Murthy.

According to reports, nine properties, located in Puducherry, Coimbatore and Chennai were allegedly procured after November 8, 2016, demonetisation. The ousted All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader is currently serving four-year imprisonment at Bengaluru's Parapana Agrahara prison.

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The sources claimed that the nine properties were brought by Sasikala between November 8, 2016, and December 31, 2016. Incidentally, this was the period when former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa was hospitalised till she breathed her last on December 5.

Sasikala has been lodged in jail since 2017 in a disproportionate assets case. Her relatives Ilavarasi and VN Sudhakaran are also serving a four-your prison term in the case. In December 2018, IT officials had questioned Sasikala for two-days. Searches were also conducted at premises linked to Sasikala over suspected tax evasion.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 05, 2019 04:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).