Allahabad, December 23, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Allahabad High Court in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has granted bail to Muslim journalist, Siddique Kappan, in a money laundering case filed against him by India’s Enforcement Directorate. Siddique Kappan was arrested on October 05, 2020, along with three other men while they were travelling to Hathras city of Uttar Pradesh, where a Dalit woman was gangrape and killed by four upper-caste Hindus on 14 September 2020.
The Indian police first accused the Muslim journalist of intending to start a caste-based riot and create communal disharmony. Subsequently, sedition charges and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were added. The Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes, filed a case against Siddique Kappan in February 2021 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The probe agency had claimed that he and three others had received money from the prominent Muslim organization, Popular Front of India, to “incite riots”. The Indian Supreme Court had granted bail to Kappan in the UAPA case on September 09. However, he continued to remain in jail as a Lucknow court had denied him bail in the money laundering case on October 31.
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