Hours after it refuted reports of the death of RJP MP RJD MP Mohammed Shahabuddin, Tihar jail official have now informed that the former MP died due to COVID-19 today.
"Information has been received from Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital about the death of Mohammed Shahabuddin, an inmate of Delhi Prisons. He was suffering from COVID-19 and was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on 20th April 2021," Sandeep Goel, DG of Delhi's Tihar prison was quoted as saying by ANI.
Meanwhile, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar condoled the demise of former RJD MP Mohd Shahabuddin. "He was an MLA and MP from Siwan for a very long time. The CM says prays for his soul to rest in peace," Nitish Kumar said.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday had directed the AAP government and the prison authority to ensure proper medical supervision and care of Shahabuddin who is suffering from COVID-19 and admitted to DDU Hospital.
The former RJD MP, in his plea, had said that he apprehended that he would not get the proper treatment as there was a scarcity of oxygen and other medicines in Delhi.
He had also alleged that he was 'apprehending the mismanagement of his health situation at the hands of the doctors at the behest of the opposite political leaders' in Delhi.
According to the petition, he was lodged in a cell, in the high risk ward of Tihar Jail, which he was sharing with another inmate.
Despite the other inmate testing COVID-19 positive in early April, Shahabuddin was kept in the same cell with the infected inmate and 'no separate arrangement was made by the jail authorities, the petition had said.
The four-time RJD MP from Siwan was alleged to have been involved in the murder of Rajdeo Ranjan, a journalist of a prominent Hindi daily in Siwan district of the eastern state of Bihar
Rajdeo Ranjan, district bureau chief of the Hindi daily, was gunned down in 2016 and his wife had accused Shahabuddin of having a role in the killing.
(With inputs from PTI)
