Lucknow court denies Siddique Kappan bail in money-laundering case

A Lucknow sessions court on Monday rejected the bail plea of Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan in a money-laundering case.

Kappan faces two cases in Uttar Pradesh. In September, the Supreme Court granted him bail in an Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case. But he could not be released because of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Kappan has been in jail for more than two years now. The details of the court order rejecting his bail plea in the PMLA case has not yet been released.

Also read: Who is Siddique Kappan and why was he in jail for two years?

Kappan, a reporter for Malayalam news portal Azhimukham, was arrested on his way to Hathras, around 380 km from Lucknow, in October 2020. Three others were arrested along with him. Kappan, secretary of the Delhi unit of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), was going to Hathras to report on the gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl.

Following the gang-rape and murder in September that year, the UP police cremated her body in the middle of the night, with no one from her family around. The case sparked massive protests over allegations of a cover-up.

Kappan was arrested and slapped with charges under the IPC, UAPA, and the Information Technology (IT) Act. Later, police filed a PMLA case against him. They claimed he had links with the now-banned Popular Front of India and was conspiring to instigate violence.

The ED’s remand report said KA Rauf Sharif, a member of PFI arm Campus Front of India, had funded the trip of Kappan and three others to Hathras. The three others who accompanied Kappan were Atiq-ur Rehman, Masood Ahmed, and Alam.

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In September, the Supreme Court questioned the evidence against Kappan in the UAPA case. “What was found on Kappan? No explosives were found; the material (literature) was not found with him but in the car, and they weren’t used for propagating,” Chief Justice UU Lalit said before delivering the bail order.

Advocates Ishan Baghel and Mohd Khalid appeared for Kappan in the Lucknow sessions court. District Judge Sanjay Shankar Pandey had concluded the hearing on October 12. He had reserved the verdict for October 31.

(With agency inputs)