Poet and activist Varavara Rao, who is undertrial in the Elgaar Parishad case, has been taken to the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai after he complained of dizziness, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Varavara Rao, 80, has been in jail for almost two years and lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai.

The activist and his family members had expressed their concern over his deteriorating health in jail amid coronavirus pandemic and sought the jail authorities to provide him immediate medical care.

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“Rao was taken to the JJ 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, Varavara 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.

His family members on Sunday sought the jail authorities to provide him immediate medical care and claimed that when the activist, who is from Telangana, contacted them last week he was in a “delirious state and hallucinating”.

Rao’s daughter Pavana told The Indian Express that they received a call from him on Saturday which lasted for 1.5 minutes and as he was unable to speak coherently, a co-inmate spoke to the family stating that Rao has been dependent on others for his daily chores as his condition has deteriorated in the past week.

Varavara Rao has been in jail for about 22 months and had earlier approached the special National Investigation Agency (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 charged under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), following which he moved the high court.

Varavara Rao and nine other activists have been arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case, which was initially probed by the Pune Police and later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in January this year.

The case is related to 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.