Ex-DU professor GN Saibaba, jailed for Maoist link, tests Covid-19 positive

Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was convicted of Naxal links by a Gadchiroli court in 2017 and is lodged in in Nagpur Central Prison, has tested positive for Covid-19.

Jail Superintendent Anup Kumre confirmed the development. “He had a little bit of cold, cough and fever. So, we got him tested on Thursday. His report came on Friday and he was found to be corona positive. We have sent him to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for a check-up and once back in jail, we will treat him here in the jail itself like we have treated other inmates,” Kumre told The Indian Express.

Asked if he will be kept isolated from others, Kumre said: “He is already lodged in a separate Anda cell. He will be treated in his cell only by the jail doctor.”

Two days ago, underworld don Arun Gawli, who is also lodged in Nagpur prison, had also tested positive for Covid-19.

Gawli, however, was granted parole several times, including for his son’s and daughter’s marriage and to attend his mother’s funeral.

The government, however, didn’t grant Saibaba parole to attend his mother’s funeral.

Kumre said that there are currently 10 inmates who are Covid-19 positive and are under treatment in the prison.

Saibaba’s wife Vasantha has been expressing apprehension that her husband is likely to contract the novel coronavirus, which might prove fatal as he has several co-morbidities and is also 90 per cent disabled. Several earlier attempts by Saibaba’s lawyers to get him bail him on health grounds had been rejected by the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.

The government had also rejected his parole plea that he had filed to meet his ailing mother at Hyderabad late last year. The administration had cited the reason of Hyderabad being a containment zone.