Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan walks out of Uttar Pradesh jail on bail

Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan walked out of jail on Thursday, a day after the sureties required for his bail was submitted in court.

Kappan has been released from jail, a senior official said in Lucknow.

Kappan and three others were arrested in October 2020 in Mathura while on their way to Hathras where a Dalit woman murdered allegedly after being gang-raped. 

While initially he was arrested under the apprehension of causing a breach of peace, subsequently, he was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) alleging that he and his co-passengers were trying to incite communal riots and disrupt social harmony in the wake of the Hathras gangrape-murder case.

In September last year, the Supreme Court granted him bail in all other cases, however, he could not get out of jail due to the pendency of the PMLA case.