Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan has been named in a chargsheet filed by the UP special task force (STF) on Saturday. The UPSTF filed a chargehseet naming Kappan and three others, who are alleged PFI (Popular Front of India) activists, under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), IT Act and other serious charges. Siddique Kappan and the three other accused were arrested in 2020 while they were on their way to UP's Hathras to cover the events following the gangrape and murder of a dalit woman.
The charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the IT Act have also been filed against four people - Siddique Kappan, Atiq-ur-Rehman; Masood Ahmad and Alam. The FIR against them claimed that they were going to Hathras with an intention "to breach the peace" as part of a "conspiracy".
A court in UP had adjourned the hearing till April 3 as the Special Task Force (STF) sought two more days to file the charge sheet against them.
Since the time limit to submit a charge sheet is expiring on April 4, the STF will file it during the next hearing scheduled for April 3," District Government Counsel (Crime) Shiv Ram Singh said, disclosing about the proceedings in the court of Additional District and and Sessions Judge (First) Anil Kumar Pandey on Wednesday.
He said the accused were arrested on October 5 last year by the Mant police station of Mathura. They are currently lodged in a Mathura jail.
In February 2021, Siddique Kappan was allowed a five-day conditional bail to visit his ailing mother. The bail allowed only his close family to meet him. Siddique Kappan was the Secretary of the Delhi unit of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) at the time of his arrest.
His wife Raihanath had held multiple protests ever since he got arrested by the UP police, seeking justice for him.