The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted bail to Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan in a case of money-laundering registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021. Kappan, who was arrested in 2020 while on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and other related laws.
He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in September on terror charges slapped against him but continued to remain in jail due to the money-laundering case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A Lucknow court had framed charges against him and six others in the PMLA case earlier this month.
The other accused in the case include KA Rauf Sherif, Atikur Rahman, Masud Ahmad, Mohammad Alam, Abdul Razzak and Ashraf Khadir. While the police have claimed that the accused are members of the now-banned Popular Front of India and its student wing, Campus Front of India (CFI).
The police have also claimed that Kappan was en route to Hathras on the directions of the PFI with the intent to spread communal discord, a charge denied by the journalist and his lawyers.
Also Read: Why Siddique Kappan remained in jail despite bail by Supreme Court
Kappan was arrested along and three other co-accused — Atikur Rehman, Mohammad Alam and Masud Ahmad — by the UP police in Mathura in October 2020, while they were on the way to Hathras days after the alleged gang-rape and death of a Dalit woman. The incident snowballed into a major controversy after she was cremated in the middle of the night in her village by the district administration. The actions by the Hathras administration sparked massive protests against the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government.