India: Kerala-based journalist arrested while going to cover Hathras case, out on bail

The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested in October 2020 by the Uttar Pradesh police on his way to report the Hathras gang rape case.

He was granted bail on Friday in a case lodged by the Directorate of Enforcement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh of the Lucknow Bench of the high court passed the order.

Kappan, who is also the secretary of the Delhi unit of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police along with three others, while they were going to report an alleged gang rape and murder case of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras.

Earlier on November 1, a local court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow refused to grant bail to the Kerala-based journalist in the money laundering case.

On September 9, the Supreme Court granted bail to Kappan, who was arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. In the order, Chief Justice UU Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat, and Justice PS Narasimha had directed that the petitioner would be released on bail in the next three days after applying in the trial court.

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