NDFB leader Ranjan Daimary COVID-19 positive: Report

Guwahati: National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) founder Ranjan Daimary has reportedly become the latest high-profile personality in the Guwahati Central Jail to have tested positive for the dreaded COVID-19 virus.

After his test result came positive, Daimary was shifted to the MMCH in Panbazar for his treatment. Apart from Daimary, 18 other prisoners of the jail tested positive today, said reports. The 18 other prisoners who tested positive today have been shifted to a COVID care centre at Jagiroad in Guwahati's outskirts.

Daimary is the prime-accused in the Assam serial bombing case triggered by NDFB on October 30, 2008, in Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta, killing 88 people and leaving more than 500 injured.

This report has come to light one day after prominent peasant leaders Bitu Sonowal and Dhaijya Konwar, tested positive for the contagion. The two close aides of the RTI activist Akhil Gogoi, who has also reportedly been taken ill, have since been shifted to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for their treatment.

The COVID-19 detections in the jail premises gain extra significance against the backdrop of the rising clamor for Akhil Gogoi's release. Gogoi, an active participant of the anti-CAA andolan that rocked Assam towards the end of the year, has slapped with charges under the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). 

On 12 December 2019, Gogoi was taken into custody in relation to the Citizenship Amendment Act protests and subsequently booked under the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Although the National Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to file a charge sheet within the mandatory 90 days, he has been again booked on other charges.

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