Who was GN Saibaba, ex-DU professor who died months after acquittal in alleged Maoist links case?

Former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba on Saturday passed away at a state-run hospital in Hyderabad due to health-related complications, months after he was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in the Maoist links case.

Saibaba who was 57 breathed his last at around 9 pm, an official said. He died due to gall bladder infection and other complications, he said.

He was admitted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) for the last 20 days.

The Bombay High Court in March this year acquitted Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, noting the prosecution failed to prove the case against him. 

The court also set aside his life sentence. It declared the sanction obtained by the prosecution to charge the accused under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as "null and void."

Following his acquittal, the wheelchair-bound GN Saibaba walked out of the Nagpur Central Jail after 10 years.

Saibaba had been lodged in Nagpur Central Jail since 2017 following his conviction by a trial court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district. Prior to that, he was imprisoned from 2014 to 2016, after which he was granted bail.

Saibaba had alleged in August this year that he was not taken to a hospital for nine months by authorities despite the left side of his body getting paralysed and was just given painkillers in the Nagpur Central Jail, where he was lodged since his arrest in the case in 2014.    

The former English professor had claimed he was "kidnapped" and arrested by the police in order to silence his voice.   

A native of Andhra Pradesh, Saibaba had said that he was warned by the authorities that if he did not stop "talking" he would be arrested in some false case.    

He had alleged that he was "kidnapped" from Delhi and arrested by Maharashtra Police. Senior officers of Maharashtra Police along with an investigating officer had gone to his house and threatened him and his family, he had claimed.    

He had alleged that Maharashtra Police dragged him out of his wheelchair during the course of arrest and as a result, he suffered a serious injury in his hand which also impacted his nervous system.

(With inputs from PTI)

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