Lucknow/Mathura: Uttar Pradesh police booked Wednesday four persons including Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan on sedition and other charges at Maant police station in Mathura. The charges were leveled against the four persons two days after they were held while on their way to Hathras.
According to the FIR, charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the IT Act have also been filed against the four. They have been accused by the UP police of having links with the alleged radical group Popular Front of India (PFI)and its affiliates.
The four were identified as Kappan, a journalist of Malapuram in Kerala, Atiq-ur-Rehman of Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmad of Bahraich and Alam of Rampur. They were booked under various sections of the IPC including 124A (sedition), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belie), according to the FIR.
The PFI has been accused of funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) across India. Earlier this year and the UP police had sought a ban on the outfit.
The four were held when, according to the police, they were on their way to Hathras were a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped.