Journalist, arrested en route Hathras, booked under anti-terror, sedition laws

An FIR has been lodged against the four arrested persons at the Mant Police Station, according to The Hindu.

Reportedly, they have been booked under Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code; Sections 14 and 17 of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; and Sections 65, 72, and 76 of the Information Technology Act, for promoting enmity between groups and outraging religious feelings.

Kappan is a regular contributor to the Kerala-based website azhimukham.com. He is also the Secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists' (KUWJ) Delhi unit.

The others arrested are Atiq-ur-Rahman of Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed of Bahraich, and Alam.

Atiq-ur-Rahman and Ahmed are office bearers of the Campus Front of India, the Popular Front of India's student wing, PFI confirmed to The Indian Express.

The UP Police said they had stopped the vehicle in which the four were traveling and found their activities suspicious.

Reports said the police procured literature "which could have an impact on peace, and law and order in the state."

Quoting the FIR, NDTV and The Hindu reported that the police recovered pamphlets saying 'I am not India's daughter' and 'Justice for Hathras Victim'.

Further, the FIR states that the four were moving toward Hathras to disrupt peace as part of a "big conspiracy." The police also pointed to their links to the PFI, which the UP government has sought to ban in the past.

The UP Police—which has been criticized for its handling of the case—has alleged a conspiracy in the rape case to stir caste-based violence.

The KUWJ's Delhi unit had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Kappan's detention.

"We have filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court against the illegal detention of a journalist who was doing his job," the letter stated.

The Press Club of India has also demanded that Kappan should be "released without delay."

The 19-year-old Dalit woman was attacked at her village in Hathras while she was cutting grass with her family.

The upper caste assailants had allegedly dragged her by her dupatta into the fields and brutally gang-raped her.

The victim sustained grave injuries leaving her with multiple fractures, paralysis, and a deep gash in her tongue.

She died during treatment in Delhi on Tuesday.