New Delhi: Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, arrested on terror charges, will be released today. A Special court in Lucknow signed his release order today -- more than a month after he got bail in the two cases against him. His lawyer said the formalities have all been completed today, "but the release order didn't reach jail in time… he'll walk out of jail today before noon".
Kappan was expected to walk out last evening, but he could not be released since the judge of the Special Court on Prevention of Money Laundering was busy with a bar council election.
Siddique Kappan was arrested in October 2021 while on way to Hathras to report on the alleged gang rape and death of a 20-year-old woman from Scheduled Castes, which triggered outrage across the country. The police said he was going there to create unrest.
He was accused of sedition and charged under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA. In February 2022, the Enforcement Directorate filed money laundering case against him, accusing him of receiving money from the banned People's Front of India.
In September last year, he got bail in the terror case, and in December in the money laundering case. But his release was held up due to multiple bureaucratic lapses.
The police have claimed that Siddique Kappan and others arrested with him are members of the banned Popular Front of India and its student wing, the Campus Front of India. Kappan has denied any involvement in terror acts or financing. He said he was on way to Hathras for journalistic work.