Bhima Koregaon case accused Varavara Rao tests COVID-19 positive, Chidambaram demands his release
Jul 16, 2020
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 16 : Bhima Koregaon case accused Varavara Rao, who was admitted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Monday night, tested positive for COVID-19 today, officials said.
He will be shifted to St George Hospital which has a COVID treatment facility, JJ Hospital Dean Dr Ranjeet Mankeshwar said.
Meanwhile, former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram demanded that Rao should be released immediately on medical grounds and admitted to a super speciality hospital.
"Varavara Rao should be released immediately and admitted to a super speciality hospital that will treat him properly," Chidambaram said in a tweet.
"The condition of Varavara Rao as described by his family is a matter of grave concern. It is beyond belief that the state, the police and the prison authorities can behave in such an inhuman manner under the watch of the NHRC," he said in another tweet.
Rao, who was lodged in Taloja prison, was rushed to the hospital after complaining of dizziness. He was arrested in November 2018 along with five others, for alleged links with Naxals and for inciting the violence at Bhima Koregaon village in Pune district.
On January 1, 2018, the violence left one dead and several others injured including 10 policemen.
Violence erupted after some people, reportedly with saffron flags, pelted stones at cars heading towards the village for the commemoration of 200 years of Bhima-Koregaon war on New Year's Day.
The police had filed 58 cases against 162 people.
