UP Police accuses journalist Siddiqui Kappan of inciting violence, instigating Muslims
India Today
The charge sheet has been filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF).
The charge sheet filed against Delhi-based journalist Siddiqui Kappan by the Uttar Pradesh Police accuses him of inciting violence. The charge sheet says that apart from instigating Muslims, Kappan also sympathies with Maoists and Communists.The 5,000-page charge sheet was filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF) on January 23, 2021. It also has 36 articles that Siddiqui Kappan wrote for a Malayalam media house. These articles were based on the Nizamuddin Markaz gathering during Covid, anti-CAA protests, Northeast Delhi riots, Ram Temple in Ayodhya, and the arrest of Sharjeel Imam on charges of sedition.STF has filed a charge sheet against all the accused, including KA Rauf Sharif, National General Secretary of Campus Front of India, the student wing of Popular Front of India, Treasurer Atiq-Ur-Rehman, journalists Siddiqui Kamran Mohammad Alam and Masood Ahmed for inciting riots in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras.A note mentioned in the charge sheet says, "These writings of Siddiqui Kappan can, to a large extent, be classified as communal. Taking names of minorities during riots and talking about incidents related to them can inflame emotions. Responsible journalists do not do such communal reporting. Kappan reports only instigated Muslims, which is a hidden agenda of the Popular Front of India (PFI). Some stories were written to sympathise with Maoists and Communists".The charge sheet was again filed in April this year, months after Kappan, PFI members Atiq-Ur-Rehman and Masood Ahmed, and their driver Alam were arrested in Mathura on their way to Hathras on October 5 last year. He was booked under UAPA and on charges of sedition.Significantly, the STF has claimed that the PFI wanted to create unrest and a riot-like situation under the guise of protests demanding justice for the Hathras victim. As per the case diary note, the article has been recovered from the forensic lab from Kappan's laptop. In the note, the police claimed that Kappan acted as a think tank of the PFI. He used to publish anti-Hindu stories in Malayalam media.The police have also submitted the statements of two eyewitnesses, who claim that Kappan and Rehman were trying to incite a mob against the administration a day after the victim's body was cremated. If sources are to be believed, suspicious funding has also been exposed in the charge sheet allegedly to instigate people. For this, call detail records and transaction details in the accounts of PFI functionaries have also been presented.Speaking to India Today TV, the lawyer of the accused, Madhuban Dutt Chaturvedi said, "The charge sheet has been filed in the case of Siddiqui Kappan. The hearing in this matter has not started. There is no possibility of the trial happening yet. The STF has not been able to collect any material so far to prove the allegations against him.”
Also read: Hathras case: In 5,000-page charge sheet, UP STF says Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan was plotting riots
Also read: Supreme Court issues notice to UP govt on plea against arrest of journalist Siddique Kappan
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