Lucknow: Hope of Kerala journalist Kappan Siddiqui coming out of an Uttar Pradesh prison has rekindled. Siddiqui has been languishing in UP jail since 2020. Now, former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University, Roop Rekha Verma, has come forward to furnish bail bond for incarcerated journalist Siddiqui. The jailed Kerala scribe needed two persons for filling the bail bond surety.
Although the court had granted bail to Siddiqui on September 9 but in the absence of two bailers — his coming out of the UP jail was stalled. Former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University and also a professor of philosophy, Roop Rekha Verma, while speaking to a news agency, said, "I was requested by a friend in Kerala that I should come forward to help jailed journalist Kappan Siddiqui. Siddiqui has every right to come out of jail to prove his innocence." "I don't know about others. I have done my bit. Hence, I have deposited the papers of my car as bail bond surety whose market price is around Rs 4 lakh."
Read: Journalist Siddique Kappan case to be heard next week
In October 2020, UP police arrested Kerala journalist Kappan Siddiqui when he was on his way to cover the Hathras Dalit girl gangrape and subsequent murder of the victim. Police had arrested him on charges of fomenting trouble on a caste basis in Uttar Pradesh. However, on September 9 this year, the Supreme Court granted him bail, emphasizing citizens' freedom of expression should be protected.
