Jayalalithaa passes away: Chennai shuts down, prepares for worst

Police personnel cordoned off entry roads to the hospital

Police personnel cordoned off entry roads to the hospital

Chennai: Hours before JâÂu00c2u0080Âu00c2u0088Jayalalithaa's death was announced, a near total shutdown like situation prevailed in the city with shops and other establishments downing shutters and office goers returning home early.

The entire area in and around Apollo Hospitals, where she was being treated since September 22, resembled a fortress with traffic completely halted on the road leading to the hospital and a heavy police posse deployed.

At the hospital hundreds of AIADMK party workers continued to stay put and raised slogans saying their beloved 'Amma' should recover.

Some were seen protesting against some TV channels, which aired wrong news of Jayalalithaa's health condition earlier in the evening.

Life at standstill
Elsewhere in the city, a bandh like situation prevailed with relatively less traffic on the roads.

Educational institutions sent students home early in the afternoon, while several offices asked their staff to leave early.

Shops, including petty outlets, eateries and departmental stores, closed shutters, even as people stocked essentials. Many bus and suburban rail stations wore a near deserted look by 7.00 PM itself while the number of private vehicles was also less on many roads.

Government buses going to Karnataka from Coimbatore and Nilgiris district did not not ply and also buses from that state were stopped at the inter-state borders on Nilgiris district apprehending violence, police said.

RAF on standby
As many as 900 personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF) of CRPF have been put on stand-by to be immediately airlifted from various places in the country to Tamil Nadu, if needed, Home Ministry officials said.