Akhil Gogoi, 60 others test positive for coronavirus in Guwahati central jail

Peasants' rights leader and anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi, who is lodged in Guwahati central jail tested Covid-19 positive, four days after a special NIA court ordered for test of his samples.

Nearly 60 other inmates of the jail, including Ranjan Daimary, former chairman of NDFB, a disbanded militant group also tested positive, forcing Assam health department to go for re-test of the samples of all other inmates.

"Jail authorities told us today that Akhil Gogoi tested positive in the RT PCR test conducted after the negative result in the rapid screening test conducted on Wednesday. He has been brought to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for isolation. We have been demanding his test as he was having cough, body pain and weekness for sometime," Mukut Deka, general secretary of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), the organisation Akhil leads, told DH on Saturday evening.

Two of Akhil's associates, Dhaijya Konwar and Bitu Sonowal, who are also lodged in the jail since the anti-CAA agitation in December also tested COVID-19 positive on Wednesday, a day after the NIA court issued the order for test. KMSS moved the NIA court as the jail authorities allegedly neglected their demand for tests.

Akhil and his associates were arrested after the anti-CAA agitation turned violent in Guwahati and some other places in December. They have been booked under sedition charge for alleged links with the Maoists and the NIA is probing their cases.

But KMSS alleged that the BJP-led government in Assam wanted to kill Akhil by not going for tests despite their demands. This comes amid growing demand for Akhil's release from jail.

In a Facebook post, Akhil's wife Geetashree Tamuly said jail authorities did not inform them on their own and was confirmed only when his lawyer asked. "If there was no public opinion and NIA court's order, all those lodged in the jail (including Akhil) would have been forced to a dark future," she posted.

As nearly 60 inmates of the jail tested positive, administration here declared Guwahati central jail as Covid-19 containment zone. There are more than 800 inmates inside the jail at present.