AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa is keeping good health and eating simple food besides reading newspapers at the Parapanna Agrahara Central prison where she is lodged after conviction in the disproportionate assets case, according to a jail official.

"Everything you are hearing outside, it is not true. She is stable and keeping good health, but she is eating simple food," the official told PTI, dismissing speculation about her well being. Asked what food items were served to her, the official said the former Chief Minister ate one or two chappatis, bread, milk or biscuits, everyday.

Contrary to reports that Jayalalithaa was ordering food from outside, he said, "There is no truth in it. We are giving her the food. She is not ordering food from outside." Asked about the medical arrangements made in the jail, the official said there are six doctors in the prison, who regularly attend to the medical needs of the jail mates, including Jayalalithaa. Jayalalithaa, who is now prisoner number 7402 at the jail, wakes up early in the morning and takes a stroll in the premises of the prison, the official said.

The 66-year-old three-time chief minister, who has been allotted VVIP cell number 23 of the prison, also reads newspapers without fail, he said. Replying to another question, the official said Jayalalithaa continued not to meet anybody including AIADMK leaders or supporters even today. "Even, she (Jayalalithaa) did not feel like meeting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who was in the city yesterday," the official said.

Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa failed to get any immediate relief from the Karnataka High Court, which deferred until October 7 a hearing on her plea for immediate bail. Other convicts Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala Natarajan, her relatives Elavarasi and Sudhakaran have been given prisoner numbers 7403, 7404 and 7405 respectively.

Sudhakaran has been allocated a VIP cell next to former Karnataka Tourism Minister and Mining baron G Janardhana Reddy.

(DNA)