Sharjeel Imam tests positive in Guwahati jail, transfer to Delhi delayed

GUWAHATI: Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam, who has been lodged at Guwahati Central Jail on sedition charges, after being accused of making inflammatory speech at an anti-CAA protest last year, has tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.

Sharjeel was brought on transit remand by Assam police from New Delhi for allegedly inciting people to "cut off" Assam from the rest of the country at an anti- CAA protest rally at Aligarh last January. He was earlier arrested from Bihar by Delhi police under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his alleged inflammatory speeches made during protests anti-CAA protests.

A team of Delhi police special cell, which had reached Guwahati on Friday to take Sharjeel’s custody and take him back to New Delhi where he was scheduled to be produced before a Delhi court on July 25 has now delayed his transfer, an official source said.