Family wants govt to help free Kerala journalist

Journalist Siddique Kappan was detained by Uttar Pradesh police on October 5, 2020 on his way to cover the death of Hathras rape victim.

Thiruvananthapuram: Journalist Siddique Kappan’s family staged a protest in front of the State Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday demanding government intervention to free him.

Kappan’s wife Raihanath Siddique, along with their three children and a few relatives, staged the protest. On January 22, the Supreme Court is to hear the argument on Kappan’s bail plea.

Raihanth said that the Supreme Court would uphold the truth and Kappan would be freed. While inaugurating the family’s dharna, N K Premachandran, MP said, Kappan has been detained by the UP Police illegally. No terror activities were cited by the police in the FIR, he said.

Journalist Kappan and three others were arrested by Mathura police on October 5 when they were on their way to a village in Hathras to meet the family members of a Dalit woman who had died after her gangrape and assault.

Kappan, Atiqur Rahman, Aalam and Masood, with alleged links with the Popular Front of India, were booked under various provisions of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The case was initially probed by the Crime Branch of Mathura police but was later transferred to the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

The District and Sessions Judge said that as per the ruling of the Apex Court, no other court except the session judge''s court is authorised to hear such cases.

With inputs from PTI