Former Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker PH Pandian has raised several questions surrounding the treatment and consequent death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Pandian on Thursday also claimed to know the “culprits” behind the former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief’s death. He said he had been looking into the circumstances surrounding her illness and death and had zeroed in on a few names.

Echoing earlier claims, Pandian said that Jayalalithaa was taken to hospital in September 2016 after she was pushed down by someone at her Chennai residence. “Amma (Jayalalithaa) fell down after someone pushed her. Nobody knows what happened to Amma after that. A police official called an ambulance, and she was taken to hospital.”

He also asked why 27 CCTV cameras were removed at Apollo Hospital after she had been admitted there, and who had authorised ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation treatment) after her cardiac arrest in December last year. Pandian brought up that Jayalalithaa’s National Security Guard protection had also been withdrawn when she was unwell, and asked who had authorised that.

Pandian’s remarks came on Thursday, days after five rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislators had met the president, seeking an independent investigation into the deceased leader’s death. Rajya Sabha member V Maitreyan had led the delegation and said, “We urged the President to take steps for a high level inquiry, either by a judicial commission or by the Central Bureau of Investigation.”

The AIADMK, however, dismissed Pandian’s allegations and continues to reject any suspicion surrounding Jayalalithaa’s death. Rumours about her prolonged illness have been rife for several months, also because very little information had been released during her two-and-a-half-month stay in hospital.