Wheelchair-bound Ex-DU Professor G N Saibaba Tests COVID-19 Positive in Nagpur Jail

Nagpur: Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who is serving life term in Nagpur Central Prison for alleged Maoist links, has tested coronavirus positive, a jail official said on Saturday.

Along with him, three other inmates of the jail were found to have contracted the infection, he said.

"G N Saibaba tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. He will be taken for a CT scan and other tests, after which doctors will decide whether to shift him to the Government Medical College and Hospital for treatment," jail superintendent Anup Kumre said.

Earlier this week, gangster Arun Gawli and four other inmates of Nagpur jail had tested positive for the infection.

Saibaba is wheelchair-bound with 90% physical disabilities.

Read Also: Urgently Shift GN Saibaba from Nagpur Jail to Medical Facility: NPRD Seeks NHRC’s Intervention

In 2017, a court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli had convicted him and four others for Maoist links and indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country. Ever since his conviction, Saibaba is lodged in the Nagpur jail.

Newsclick adds: Last year in July, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) has submitted a second petition to the National Human Rights Commission pointing out the difficulties faced by Saibaba  considering his multiple medical issues and warning them of the dangers of his contracting COVID-19.

According to NPRD’s petition: “The conditions in the Nagpur jail are deplorable. Apart from it being overcrowded many guards and prisoners (one even close to his cell) have been infected with the dreaded Covid-19. Given his weak physical condition, his co-morbidities, cardiac problem combined with high blood pressure as also a compromised immune system, there is every possibility that Dr. Saibaba may contract the virus. This may prove highly dangerous and fatal for him.”