Siddique Kappan was arrested on 5 October last year while he was on his way to Hathras to report about the alleged gang-rape of a Dalit woman who later died in a Delhi hospital.
A 5,000-page chargesheet has been filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police against Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan and seven others under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA for alleged conspiracy to create communal tension. Mr Kappan was arrested on 5 October last year while he was on his way to Hathras to report about the alleged gang-rape of a Dalit woman who later died in a Delhi hospital.
Out of seven, three were arrested along with Mr Kappan while others were taken into custody later. Mr Kappan and three others were arrested when they were heading to Hathras for their alleged links with Popular Front of India (PFI) and were charged under the anti-terror law.
According to the chargesheet, the accused were trying to spread disharmony in Uttar Pradesh and the police have used a section of the UAPA that deals with "raising funds for a terrorist act". Mr Kappan has been in jail in Mathura since then. The defence lawyer Madhuvan Dutt Chaturvedi said that they have not received a copy of the chargesheet yet and will decide their course of action once they receive it.
The Hathras gang-rape case and the way it was handled by the state police and administration was widely criticised. Later, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
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