LUCKNOW: A special court in the UP capital framed charges on Wednesday against Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan and six of his associates in a case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Lawyer Kuldeep Srivastava, who represented the ED, told TOI that all seven accused had been charged under sections 3 and 4 of the legislation, which provide for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. The prosecution will produce witnesses in the trial from December 17.
Apart from Kappan, the ED is investigating the financial transactions of some office-bearers and members of the proscribed Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student wing, the Campus Front of India. The journalist’s alleged accomplices are Ateequr Rehman, Masood Ahmed, Rauf Shareef, Abdul Razzaq, Ashraf Qadir and Mohammed Alam.
According to the ED chargesheet, Shereef allegedly received nearly Rs 1.4 crore from PFI members based in Oman and Qatar and transferred the cash to the bank accounts of four of his fellow accused. All five bought land and vehicles with the allegedly ill-gotten money. Masood allegedly visited Hathras in one of these vehicles to take part in a protest over the gang-rape of a Dalit girl there.
The crackdown on PFI office-bearers and members started with the arrest of four of them in Mathura, en route to Hathras. The quartet was charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, claiming they were out to disturb peace by whipping up communal passions. The Supreme Court granted bail to Kappan in the UAPA case, but he remained in jail for his alleged involvement in money laundering. In October, a local Lucknow court rejected his bail plea.
