COVID-19: Woman in NIA custody for alleged IS links tests positive

Three months after being arrested on charges of having links with the Islamic State and instigating anti-CAA protests in Delhi, a Kashmiri woman has tested positive for COVID-19 in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

While she has been admitted to a hospital in the national capital, more than 10 officials and personnel of the NIA underwent tests for the disease and two of them have tested positive, The Indian Express reported.

On March 8, the police arrested the woman and her husband from south Delhi’s Okhla Vihar for their alleged association with the Khorasan Province branch of the militant group. The couple was also charged with instigating protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Delhi.

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The police had booked the couple for sedition and promoting enmity between different communities under IPC sections 124A and 153A and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Later, the NIA started investigation in the case.

However, the couple underwent tests for COVID-19 before the central agency had taken them into custody, and both were found negative. But the women later showed symptoms and was tested, along with her husband. The man has tested negative, the police said.