Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan granted bail after 2 years in PMLA case

Siddique Kappan has been in jail since October 2020 after he was arrested by the UP Police when he was on his way to report on the rape and murder of a woman in Hathras on terror charges. The Supreme Court granted him bail in the terror case in September, but he continued to be in jail because of the PMLA case.

Siddique Kappan, a journalist based in Kerala, was granted bail on Friday in a case involving the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On October 6, 2020, Kappan was booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the PMLA case, for allegedly obtaining money from a foreign country illegally.

He was also charged with using it in ways that were detrimental to the interests of the country. Kappan, Athikur Rehman, Alam, and Masood were detained in 2020 as they travelled to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to report on the suspected gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman.

He had already been granted bail in the terror case, which was brought under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and other related laws, by the Supreme Court in September, but he continued to be detained in Lucknow because the Enforcement Directorate's related case had not yet yielded any results.

Siddique Kappan and his attorneys have consistently denied any role in sponsoring or carrying out terrorist operations, and they have asserted that he was just going to Hathras for journalistic purposes. It was days after a Dalit woman there died after she was allegedly gang-raped. She was cremated by the district administration in the middle of the night in her village, which sparked demonstrations and widespread criticism of Yogi Adityanath's BJP government.

Rahman serves as the Campus Front of India's national treasurer, which is a PFI student organisation. Alam is a PFI member and Ahmed serves as the general secretary of the Campus Front of India's Delhi chapter. According to the Enforcement Directorate, Sherif, the national general secretary of the Campus Front of India, paid for their journey to Hathras.