Telugu poet Varavara Rao tests Covid positive, doctors say he has no breathing difficulty

Earlier this week, the 80-year-old activist was shifted from the Taloja Central Jail to JJ Hospital in south Mumbai after he complained of dizziness.

File photo of poet Varavara Rao, arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case | PTI

New Delhi: Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, has tested positive for Covid-19.

Earlier this week, the 80-year-old was shifted from the Taloja Central Jail to the government-run JJ Hospital in south Mumbai after he complained of dizziness.

Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, dean, JJ Hospital, has been quoted as saying, “He has shown no symptoms of Covid-19 so far. He has no breathing difficulty and is stable. We will soon shift him to a Covid hospital.”  He is likely to be shifted to the St George Hospital in south Mumbai.

Rao, who has been in prison since 2018, had moved the Bombay High Court Monday after his plea for interim bail on medical grounds was rejected by a special NIA court.

Last week, his family had complained that he sounded “delirious” while speaking to them over the phone. They had held an online press conference and said they were worried about his “deteriorating health”.

Fifty poets from across the country had also released a public statement titled ‘Don’t kill Varavara Rao in jail’ Wednesday asking for the poet’s immediate release.

In May, Rao was shifted to a hospital when he fell unconscious inside the prison but was discharged within three days.

Rao and nine other activists were arrested in relation to the Bhima Koregaon violence in 2018 and the case was transferred to the NIA earlier this year.

Other prisoners testing positive for Covid-19

Rao is one among many prisoners to have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Earlier this week, Assam peasant activist Akhil Gogoi, who was arrested in connection with the anti-CAA protests in the state last year, had tested positive for Covid-19 inside the Guwahati Central Jail.

At the Anantnag jail in Kashmir, 96 out of 193 prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19. Many also include political leaders who were detained after the scrapping of Article 370 in August 2019. Families of these prisoners have alleged they were kept in the dark about their condition.