Journalist Siddique Kappan. A court in Mathura on Tuesday rejected the bail application of journalist Siddique Kappan who was arrested along with three others last October while they were on their way to Hathras to meet the family of a 19-year-old Dalit woman murdered and allegedly gang-raped.
The four were charged with a conspiracy to create a disturbance. Kappan, Atiq-ur-Rahman, Masood Ahmed and Alam are in Mathura jail at present. Kappan had filed the application last month.
“Additional District and Session Judge, Mathura, Anil Kumar Pandey rejected the bail application of Kappan after hearing arguments from both sides,” said Mathura district government counsel Shivram Singh.
The court has already rejected the bail pleas of the three arrested with the journalist on October 4 at the district’s Maath toll plaza. The police recovered six cellphones and a laptop from them. The following day, the police lodged a case against them on various charges, including sedition, and even invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The police later booked four more people in the case. In April, they filed a chargesheet against all the eight accused.
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