Sitapur: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Khan were being shifted to a private hospital in Lucknow for coronavirus treatment, officials said on Sunday. On May 2, the jail administration tried to convince Azam Khan for treatment at Lucknow’s King George’s Medical University but the SP leader refused to move out of the jail. Also Read - Seven Men Arrested for Stealing Clothes of the Dead from UP Crematoriums

On Sunday, he was convinced and officials confirmed in the evening that they were headed to Lucknow’s Medanta Hospital. A team of doctors from the district hospital, including Sitapur CMO Madhu Garola, had examined Azam Khan on Sunday. Also Read - Bihar Shocker: Video Shows Body of COVID-19 Victim Dumped in Saura River in Katihar

Officials from the district administration explained to Azam Khan for a long time the need to take him to Lucknow for better treatment, Deputy Jailor Onkar Pandey said. Also Read - Is 'Amitabh Bachchan' and 'Donald Trump' Traveling to Himachal? FIR Lodged After Fake E-Passes Issued in Their Names

Azam Khan and Abdullah were confirmed COVID-19 positive on April 30. Thirteen other inmates had also tested positive for COVID-19 after they complained of fever and cough on April 29, added the deputy jailor.

Azam Khan, along with his son and wife Tazeen Fatma, was lodged in the jail in February last year in connection with various cases. The Allahabad High Court had in December granted bail to Tazeen Fatma in all 34 cases registered against her.