Indian : An Indian journalist has been released from jail more than two years after he was arrested over terrorism charges while on his way to report on the alleged gang rape and murder of a teenager.
Siddique Kappan, 43, from India’s southern Kerala state, was arrested in 2020 by police in Uttar Pradesh, where the 19-year-old Dalit woman was attacked.
He faced charges of being involved in a radical Islamist group, money laundering, sedition and fomenting sectarian violence.
He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in December but remained in prison while official procedures were carried out. He was in jail for a total of about 850 days.
Kappan was accused of having links to the Popular Front of India, a banned organisation, and being part of a conspiracy to instigate violence following the rape.
He was detained under the contentious sedition law and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which gives sweeping powers to police to hold a person indefinitely without issuing formal charges.
Kappan was accused of taking money from the PFI to instigate the violence.
India’s federal anti-terrorism agency has accused the organisation of crimes including funding terrorism.
