Kerala Journalist Gets Bail After 2 Years In UP Jail

Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan was granted bail on Friday in a money laundering case. On October 6, 2020, Kappan was booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a PMLA case for illegally receiving money from a foreign country. He was also accused of using it in actions against the interest of the nation.

In 2020, Kappan was arrested along with three others. He was arrested when he was on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to report the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman.

Supreme court has given bail in terror case

Kappan has been in jail since 2020. Police had initially booked the journalist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). After this, the ED also registered a case against him under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The Kerala journalist had already got bail from the Supreme Court in September in a terrorism case filed under UAPA and other related laws.

Kappan and three co-accused - Atiqur Rehman, Mohd Alam and Masood Ahmed - were arrested by the UP Police in Mathura. In September, opposition parties and journalist groups welcomed the Supreme Court's order granting bail to Kappan. He alleged that the BJP government in UP made Kappan an easy target because he was a Muslim.

What was the matter

In September 2020, a girl who was gang-raped died in a hospital in Delhi within 15 days of the incident. Kappan was on his way to Hathras as the girl was cremated at midnight in his village, which drew strong condemnation from the BJP state government.

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