Ex-JNU student Umar Khalid tests positive for Covid in Delhi’s Tihar Jail

Umar Khalid was arrested last year in connection with a Delhi riots case

Senior advocate Trideep Pais was arguing for bail on behalf of Umar before Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat. The court will hear the arguments now on November 16. (File Photo)

Former JNU student Umar Khalid, arrested last year in connection with a Delhi riots case, has tested positive for Covid-19 in Tihar Jail.

DG (Tihar) Sandeep Goel has confirmed that he has tested positive and his report came on Saturday. He has been isolated within the jail.

Data provided by the Tihar Jail authorities till April 23 shows that the prison has 227 active cases among jail inmates and 60 among jail staff, including a jail superintendent and two prison doctors.

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“Currently there are around 20,000 prisoners in Tihar. As many as 241 inmates and 60 staff have tested positive since March. Recently, the Tihar Jail administration decided to cancel meetings between prisoners and their family members till further orders, following the surge of Covid-19 cases in Delhi,” an official said.

Khalid was arrested in a case related to the riots that took place in Khajuri Khas in February 2020. A sessions court on April 15 had granted him bail. However, he is yet to be granted bail in the UAPA case related to the Delhi riots.

On April 23, a Delhi court pulled up senior Delhi Police officers for taking a decision to move applications to produce Khalid and United Against Hate founder Khalid Saifi in handcuffs in connection with a riots case.

Mahender Singh Manral

Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security. Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat. During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More

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