Samajwadi Party’s leader Azam Khan was rushed to a Lucknow hospital with his son for COVID-19 treatment. Azam Khan (72) and Abdullah Khan (28) were taken from the jail where they were serving time to Lucknow’s Medanta Hospital under heavy police protection
Background
As the nation fights the second deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is evidently becoming clearer that the virus has found itself inside the walls of the Indian jails too. Earlier, Mumbai gangster Chhota Rajan, who was serving time in Tihar Jail was admitted to AIMS for treatment of coronavirus.
Details
One of the founding members of Samajwadi Party Azam Khan was rushed to Lucknow’s Medanta Hospital after his symptoms got for worse. Khan was taken to the hospital along with his son Abdullah Khan who was also infected with the virus.
Earlier on May 2, the administrators from jail tried to convince Khan to be shifted to the King George Medical University for COVID-19 treatment. He refused to the proposition and continued serving time while being infected. On May 9 he finally accepted the jail administration’s proposition and thus he and Abdullah were taken to Lucknow’s Medanta Hospital with heavy police protection.
Azam Khan on Monday morning was inspected by a dedicated team of doctors. The team also included Sitapur’s CMO (Chief Medical Officer) Madhu Garola. Later, Medanta Hospital’s director Dr. Rakesh Kapoor was quoted by the Press Trust of India saying-
“Azam Khan has tested positive for COVID-19, and has moderate symptoms. Khan has fever, and has been kept on four litres of oxygen. His tests are being conducted, and accordingly his treatment will be done.”
Dr. Kapoor also gave an assessment of his son Abdullah’s health and confirmed that Abdullah is in a stable condition.
Earlier, Onkar Pandey, the Deputy Jailor of the jail Khan was serving time in said how the jail administration tried convincing Khan to agree on being taken to a better hospital in Lucknow. As many as 13 other criminals at the jail were also COVID-19 positive after complaining of symptoms of the virus like fever and cough.
Shiksha Time Machine: Azam Khan’s prosecution and imprisonment
Earlier, Samajwadi leader and MP Azam Khan was investigated by the Rampur Police for as many as 81 cases. These cases included charges such as land encroachment, cheating and more. The Rampur police had filed a total of 79 charge sheets against Khan. It was later found out that for the most cases, Khan’s immediate family members including his wife Tazeen Fatma and son Abdullah Khan, were co-accused.
In 2021, March the Indian Express reported that the Rampur Police filed additional charge sheet in cases of land encroachment. These charge sheets were filed at the Ganj Police station. The houses made in Dongarpur region were destroyed by the police in on the grounds of land grabbing. According to Rampur Police, the land was used for extension of a university called the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University of which Azam was a chancellor of.
4 other cases, of which 2 were connected with land encroachment on enemy property, one case was of fake documentation while another case of passing objectionable remark was lodged by former Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh. According to Singh, Khan had made objectionable remarks against him. The case was filed in 2018 and its investigation was then transferred to the Rampur region as the alleged remark was made there.
In February, 2021, Khan along with his wife and son, surrendered before Rampur court in a case that was lodged on the grounds of alleged creation of Khan’s son birth certificate. While Khan’s wife Tazeen was released from the jail due to a bail, Khan and his son continued serving time at the Sitapur jail. While 41 cases were filed against Khan’s son Abdullah since January 2020, Fatima was looking at 32 cases.