UP court frames charges against journalist Siddique Kappan, 6 others

The police have claimed that the accused are members of the banned organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student wing — Campus Front of India (CFI).

“The court has framed charges against the seven under the PMLA,” said ED lawyer Kuldeep Srivastava.

The court has fixed December 17 as the next date of hearing.

Kappan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in October 2020 and charged under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), while he was on his way with three others to Hathras in the state following the death of a young Dalit woman who was allegedly gangraped.

While the police alleged that Kappan was part of a conspiracy to disrupt peace in the area, his lawyers claimed that he was going to report on the case involving woman The police recovered smart phones and laptops, claiming that the accused wanted to use them to disturb peace.

The three others accompanying Kappan were Rahman, Ahmed and their car driver Alam, while the other three were arrested during the investigation.

The accused, Rauf Sherif, was arrested on December 12, 2020.

On September 9, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Kappan in the UAPA case. However, Kappan was not released because of Money Laundering case against him. In October, a local court of Lucknow rejected Kappan’s bail in Money laundering case.

On the basis of the FIR, the ED initiated a money laundering case against the accused. While the central agency’s prosecution complaint was limited to the Hathras case, it had claimed in an official statement: “The proceeds of crime amounting to around Rs 1.36 crore were obtained as a result of criminal activity relating to the offence of criminal conspiracy under section 120-B of the IPC and part of it was used by the PFI/CFI activists in India for unlawful activities that included funding of anti-CAA (Citizen Amendment Act) protests, inciting violence and fomenting trouble which led to the Delhi riots in February 2020… and the purported visit of PFI/CFI to Hathras with an intent to disturb communal harmony, incite communal riots and spread terror.”

It also alleged that part of this money was used for buying land and was parked for its future use by the PFI and the CFI. In its prosecution complaint, the ED claimed that KA Sherif funneled funds to Masud Ahmed and Atikur Rehman.

Using these funds, a car was bought by Masud for Rs 2.25 lakh to gol to Hathras 15 days before their arrest, ED has claimed.