Delhi based journalist working with a Malayalam news outlet and three others were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). They have been charged with agitation for their alleged links with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student’s organization Campus Front of India (CFI).
They were detained by Uttar Pradesh Police from a toll plaza in Mathura on their way to Hathras.
The journalist identified as Siddique Kappan, secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) writes for Malayalam news website azhimukham.com. Currently, he is in preventive custody of the Mathura police.
Apart from Kappan, CFI office bearers Atiqur-ur-Rahman, Masood Ahmed, and another person identified as Alam have been detained.
Kappan hails from Kerala and has been living in Delhi for years. Meanwhile, Ahmed is from Bahraich, Alam from Rampur, and Rahman from Muzaffarnagar.
During questioning, the men told that they were traveling from Delhi to Hathras to meet the victim’s family. As per reports, they wanted to provide justice to the victim’s family.
According to Mathura police, they have seized certain materials from laptops, phones, and also pieces of literature related to protests. All these materials could impact the law and order in the area.
Meanwhile, the Delhi unit of KUWJ has written a letter to Narendra Modi as well as to UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Kappan’s detention.
The Press Club of India also released a statement stating that Kappan should be released without delay.
The UAPA is primarily an anti-terror law aimed at more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations and for dealing with terrorist activities.
According to Additional SP K. Gyananjay Singh of Bahraich, Masood Ahmed was detained in Mathura in the past for trying to initiate riots during the Bhoomi Pujan in Ayodhya.