Azam, son shifted to Lucknow hospital 8 days after testing +ve

: Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam, lodged in Sitapur district jail for the past many months, were shifted to Medanta hospital in Lucknow on Sunday on the recommendation of a district-level medical team, said senior officials of the UP prison administration.

The senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and his son, along with 14 other prisoners, had tested positive for the Covid-19 infection at the Sitapur district jail on May 1 during a routine testing drive for prisoners. The duo was under medical treatment at the jail since then.

A senior jail official confirmed that the former minister and his son were taken to Lucknow in an ambulance.

He said they were in jail since February 26, 2020, when a Rampur court rejected their bail application in a case related to alleged forgery in age-proof documents of Abdullah Azam.

In September 2019, the court had issued summons to Khan, his wife Tazeen Fatima and his son taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by Rampur police, in which all three were charged with forgery and cheating. On January 3, 2019, local BJP leader Akash Saxena had lodged a complaint alleging that Azam and his wife helped their son in obtaining two fake birth certificates – one from Lucknow and another from Rampur – following which an FIR was registered.