Activist Varavara Rao taken to J J Hospital in Mumbai

    Mumbai, Jul 14 (PTI) Poet and activist Varavara Rao,
arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has been
taken to the state-run J J Hospital here after he complained
of dizziness, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
    Rao, 80, has been behind bars for almost two years and
lodged at the Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.
    The activist and his family members have claimed he is
unwell since sometime, and sought the jail authorities to
provide him immediate medical care.
    "Rao was taken to the J J Hospital on Monday night
after he felt dizzy. The hospital is conducting a few tests on
him, the activist's advocate R Satyanarayan Iyer said.
    On Monday, Rao filed two petitions in the Bombay High
Court, seeking temporary bail owing to his deteriorating
health and a direction to the jail authorities to produce his
medical records and admit him to a state-run or private
hospital.
    Raos family members on Sunday sought the jail
authorities to provide him immediate medical care and claimed
that when the veteran activist, who hails from Telangana,
contacted them last week he was in a "delirious state and
hallucinating".
    Rao has been in jail for about 22 months and had
earlier approached the special NIA court, seeking bail on
medical grounds and the prevailing COVID-19 situation.
    On June 26, the NIA court rejected his plea on the
ground that he has been booked under stringent provisions of
the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), following which
he moved the high court.
    Rao and nine other activists have been arrested in the
Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, which was initially probed
by the Pune Police and later transferred to the National
Investigation Agency (NIA) in January this year.
    The case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made
at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31,
2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day
near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.
    The police have also claimed the conclave was
organised by people with alleged Maoist links. PTI SP
GK GK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)