GUWAHATI: Jailed Assamese activist Akhil Gogoi, Lok Sabha MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal and his younger brother Sirajuddin Ajmal, who is a former MP, tested positive for coronavirus. "An antigen test conducted today (Saturday) revealed he (Gogoi) is infected with COVID-19," IG (Prisons) Dasarath Das told The New Indian Express.
The results of the activist's two previous tests were negative. Das said Gogoi would be taken to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
Gogoi, who is an RTI activist and leader of peasants' body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samitee, has been lodged at the Central Jail in Guwahati for the past six months following his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for alleged nexus with Maoists.
On May 29, the NIA had filed the charge-sheet against him and his three associates for alleged sedition and terror activities vis-à-vis their role in the violent protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act that rocked the state in December last year.
His associates, Dharjya Konwar and Bitu Sonowal, had also tested positive at the Guwahati jail recently. So far, 55 inmates of the jail, including former insurgent leader Ranjan Daimary, tested positive.
Meanwhile, Dhubri MP and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) Badruddin Ajmal was being treated at his Mumbai residence and his Sirajuddin was admitted to a hospital in the city after the siblings tested positive for the virus. "The sugar level in my blood has been fluctuating since last week and I am at bed rest under doctor’s supervision at my home. I am diabetic and have confined myself to my home, avoiding travels and meetings since the pandemic broke out," Badruddin had tweeted on Friday.
Assam BJP MLAs Bolin Chetia and Krishnendu Paul also tested positive for the virus.