Mathura court extends judicial custody of Kerala journalist, three others

Mathura: A Mathura court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of a Kerala journalist and three others arrested here on their way to a village in Hathras to meet the family of an alleged gang-rape-cum-murder victim.

Arrested earlier this month by police under section 151 of the CrPC on the suspicion of their intention to commit some cognisable offence, the four were later booked on charges of sedition and various terror acts and were remanded to 14-day judicial custody on October 7.

Mathura Chief Judicial Magistrate Anju Rajput extended the judicial custody of Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan and three others after they were produced before her court through video conferencing on the completion of the earlier period of their judicial custody.

The court extended the judicial custody of journalist Kappan and his accomplices Atiqur Rahman, Alam and Masood, saying that the police was yet to complete the probe into the sedition and terror case against them, said APO Brajmohan Singh.

He said the magistrate extended their remand till November 2.

The police had initially arrested the four under section 151 of the CrPC on the suspicion that they may commit some cognizable offence.

But police later booked them on charges of sedition under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code and various other offences, including that of raising funds for terrorism, under section 17 and 14 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, besides various other penal offences under the Information Technology Act.

A Mathura SDM on Monday had ordered the four to furnish a surety bond worth Rs one lakh each to keep peace in society under the provision of section 107 of the CrPC.

Pending the furnishing of the surety bond for their release, SDM Suresh Kumar of Mathura's Mant sub-division had remanded them to judicial custody under section 116 of the CrPC for 14 days owing to their arrest by police under section 151 of the CrPC.