Sharjeel Imam has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Guwahati:
Sharjeel Imam, a former JNU student, who has been held for months in Guwahati prison in connection with a sedition case, has tested positive for the coronavirus. A Delhi police team is in the city to take him into custody but will have to wait for him to recover.
Guwahati Central Prison is now a containment zone as more than 400 inmates have tested positive for the infection so far.
Sharjeel Imam will be admitted to a local hospital for treatment.
Sharjeel Imam actively participated in Shaheen Bagh’s protest in the nation’s capital against the Citizenship (Amendment) Law. He was accused of sedition for his speech in which he allegedly threatened to cut Assam off from the rest of the country.
He was taken to Guwahati in January for questioning.
Muzammil Imam, his brother, claimed that the patients had not received proper treatment in the prison.
“Hundreds of HIV-positive patients are forced to live in inhumane conditions inside the prison itself. Pray for his health and safety,” he tweeted.
On Tuesday, the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an advisory to the government, directing it to submit a report by August 5 on the condition of detainees held in prisons and homes in state fix amid COVID-19 peak.
The AHRC acted after opposition leader in Assam, Debabrata Saikia, complained about alleged neglect to provide adequate health facilities to inmates and non-compliance with the COVID-19 protocol by prison authorities.
His complaint came after anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi and his close associates tested positive for COVID-19 inside Guwahati central prison.
