Bhubaneswar, Jan. 6: Successor of Gajapati dynasty Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deo was today airlifted from Chennai and admitted to a private hospital in the city.

Deo, 75, was being treated at a private hospital in Chennai since August 16. He was accompanied by his daughter Kalyani. Gopinath has been suffering from diabetes, hypertension, chest infection and a fracture in a leg.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Dilip Kumar Mishra, who was treating him in Chennai, said: "Now, he is undergoing physiotherapy. He will have to continue with the medicines prescribed by the team for several complications after being discharged from the hospital."

Hospital sources here said Gopinath's condition was better now and his admission to the hospital was a part of the recuperation process.

It was alleged that he was kept confined in his house by his palace manager Ananga Manjari Patra in a "bid to usurp the royal properties". Ananga and her two brothers, along with another sister, were found dead under mysterious conditions in their house at Jangam Sahi in Paralakhemundi, which triggered a hue and cry in the state.

A series of demonstrations allegedly led to the suicides of the four siblings, including the former palace manager Ananga Manjari.

Ananga and her brother Sanjay were accused of misappropriation of the royal funds.

The government had ordered a crime branch probe into the deaths that is currently in progress. In a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Kalyani Devi had urged him to inquire into the royal family's property transactions for the past 35 years.

After the matter came to light, the district administration had shifted Gajpati to Chennai for treatment last August. The state government had agreed to bear the former king's medical expenses incurred in Chennai. Recently, the government stated that it had spent Rs 29 lakh on the treatment.

The septuagenarian is a two-time Lok Sabha member from Berhampur and the grandson of Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, who had played a pivotal role in the formation of Odisha state on a linguistic basis on April 1, 1936.