VK Sasikala, expelled AIADMK leader and a close aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, has been released after spending four years in a Bengaluru jail in a corruption case. She will, however, remain in a hospital in the city as she is being treated for COVID-19. She will also continue to get protection from Karnataka Police as long as she remains in the state. The 66-year-old was formally released from the Central Jail in Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara after jail officials completed the formalities at the hospital. On January 25, Sasikala’s nephew and AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran took to Twitter to confirm that she would be released on January 27. The ex-AIADMK leader's release comes on a day when the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurates Rs 79 crore Jayalalithaa memorial along Chennai's Marina Beach. Sasikala was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017 in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case.