Bengaluru, July 21: Sharjeel Imam, charged with sedition for a speech he delivered in December last year, has tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus, reports said on Wednesday. The 32-year-old is lodged in prison for the last six months, with police in Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi registering cases against him under stringent penal provisions.

Delhi Police sources, while speaking to news agency ANI, claimed that Sharjeel tested positive at the Guwahati Central Jail where he is currently lodged. Scores of other prisoners at the jail, including noted civil rights activist Akhil Gogoi, were confirmed to have contracted the disease earlier this month. Akhil Gogoi, Jailed Assam Activist, Tests COVID-19 Positive Day After Being Declared Negative.

Sharjeel was scheduled to be produced before a Delhi court on Saturday, as the Delhi Police has applied for his remand. However, he would not be produced before the court due to his medical condition, said sources. He is expected to be shifted to a quarantine facility.

"Sharjeel Imam has tested positive for COVID-19. Delhi Police Special Cell had applied for his production warrant in Assam as he is lodged at Guwahati Central Jail and he was going to be presented before a Delhi Court on 25th July, but will not be produced now," Delhi Police sources were reported as saying.

Update by ANI

Sharjeel, an alumnus of IIT Bombay, had landed in row after he delivered an alleged seditious speech during a demonstration in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on December 12, 2019. In the video clip circulated on social media a month later, he could be heard speaking about the "chicken's neck" that connects mainland India with northeastern states.

Sharjeel's counsel later defended his remark, claiming that he was only referring to non-violent "chakka jam" or roadblocks to pressurise the government in withdrawing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizenship (NRC).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 21, 2020 08:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).