Siddique Kappan News: Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan was released from jail on Thursday (February 2), a day after he submitted a bond in the court for bail. An official said that two bond papers of Rs 1 lakh each were filed in the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Talking to reporters after coming out of jail, Kappan said, ‘I have come out of jail after 28 months. I have come out after a lot of struggle. I am happy, got a lot of media support. When asked why he had gone there (Hathras), Kappan said that he had gone there for ‘reporting’. Regarding his companions, Kappan said that they were students.
On recovery, Kappan said, ‘Nothing…I only had a laptop and mobile.’ On reports that some (objectionable) material was found from him, Kappan said he had “two pens and a notepad”. It is noteworthy that Siddiqui Kappan was arrested in October 2020. They were on their way to Hathras to report on the alleged gangrape and death of a 20-year-old Scheduled Caste girl.
What charges did the police put on Siddiqui Kappan?
The police accused Siddique Kappan that he was going there to create unrest. The Uttar Pradesh police charged Siddique Kappan with sedition and under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA. In February 2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also filed a money laundering case against him alleging that he had received funds from the banned People’s Front of India (PFI).
Kappan rejected the claims of the police
However, in September last year, he got bail in the terror case and in December in the money laundering case. Surprisingly, it took a long time to give bail to Siddiqui Kappan. Police claimed that Siddiqui Kappan and others arrested along with him are members of the banned Popular Front of India and its student wing Campus Front of India. However, Kappan has denied any involvement in terror activities or financing.
read this also- Naba Kishore Das: Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das died of ‘cardiogenic shock’, revealed in the post mortem report