Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan was coming to create caste divide: UP

Keralabased journalist Siddique Kappan arrested on his way to Hathras where a young Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gangraped was going there under the garb of journalism with a very determined design to create caste divide and disturb law and order situation the Uttar Pradesh government said in the Supreme Court todayIn an affidavit filed in the top court the state government has alleged that Siddique Kappan is the office secretary of Popular Front of India PFI and was using a journalist cover by showing identity card of a Kerelabased newspaper which was closed in 2018Opposing the plea filed by Kerala Union of Working Journalists KUWJ questioning Siddique Kappans arrest and seeking his bail the state has said it is not maintainable and the petitioner has no locus as the accused is already in touch with his advocates and relatives and he himself can file proceedings through his lawyersIt is revealed during investigation that he along with other PFI activists and their student wing Campus Front of India leaders were going to Hathras under the garb of Journalism with a very determined design to create a caste divide and disturb law and order situation were found carrying incriminating material the affidavit saidThe matter came up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V RamasubramanianSolicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Uttar Pradesh said they have filed an affidavitLast time there was misreporting I am worried about the inaccurate reporting the CJI said adding the reports said that the journalist was refused reliefThe bench asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal who was appearing for KUWJ to go through the reply filed by Uttar Pradesh and file rejoinderYou have the right to file bail and you read the reply and then we will hear you completely the bench saidThe bench said the state has no objection to an advocate approaching the accused to get his signature for availing the judicial reliefList after one week In the meantime the accused persons signature can be obtained in jail for taking recourse in courts the bench saidKapil Sibal said that lawyers were earlier restrained from approaching Siddique Kappan to get his signatureTushar Mehta countered Kapil Sibals contention and said they were neither stopped earlier and nor there is any opposition on thisSiddique Kappan was arrested on October 5 while he was on his way to Hathras home to the young Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gangraped by four uppercaste menThe police had said it has arrested four people having links with the PFI in Mathura and identified the arrested persons as Siddique Kappan from Malappuram Atiqur Rehman from Muzaffarnagar Masood Ahmed from Bahraich and Alam from RampurIn its affidavit filed in the top court the state government has said that Siddique Kappan is not in illegal custodyconfinement but is in judicial custodyThe petitioner has resorted to falsehood and has made several false statements on oath only to sensationalise the case which would become clear on perusal of the following facts said the affidavit filed by senior superintendent of jail District Jail MathuraThe person in custody namely Siddique Kappan is the Office Secretary of Popular Front of India PFI using a journalist cover by showing identity card of a Kerela based newspaperwhich was closed in 2018 it claimedIt alleged when Siddique Kappan was brought by special task force STF to Delhi for probe he misled the police by giving wrong residential address which was found invalid and he did not assist in the investigation and gave misleading detailsIt alleged that KUWJ has concealed the fact that a lawyer hired by them was appearing before the magistrate at Mathura on October 6 and had full knowledge of the time and place of production of the accusedIt said a completely false narrative is being made that Siddique Kappan is not being permitted to talk to relatives or lawyers as during judicial custody he has interacted with his family members on three occasions on phone on his written requestIt is pertinent to note that accused Siddique Kappan has never requested to meet any relative or any lawyer nor has file any such application before the competent courtjail authorities till date it saidThe affidavit said STF has been conducting detailed probe and have been filing progress reports before the state government from which it has been revealed that further incriminating evidence has been found against all the four accused including the accused Siddique KappanIt is submitted that during the investigation conducted so far the evidence of the accused having links with banned organizations has emerged it claimedIt said out of four persons arrested on October 5 the remaining three have filed bail pleas which were rejected by the courtThe FIR has been filed under various provisions of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA against four people having alleged links with PFIPFI had been accused in the past of funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act across the country earlier this yearHathras has been in the news following the death of a 19yearold Dalit woman who was allegedly gangraped on September 14 2020 in a village in the districtHer cremation at night by the authorities allegedly without the parents consent had triggered widespread outrageKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever