Mathura Court junks STF's plea to interrogate Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan again
Mathura, Aug 18: A Mathura court has dismissed the UP STF's plea to interrogate Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, facing terror charges, about some incriminating document found in his Delhi residence.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar Pandey rejected the Special Task Force plea, saying that the accused cannot be allowed to be interrogated again after the chargesheet in the case has already been filed.
Kappan is presently lodged in judicial custody in a terror case, involving instigating unrest and funding it after the death of a Hathras woman, set ablaze after her rape and brutalisation.
The prosecution's request at a stage when the charge-sheet has already been submitted in the court cannot be accepted and merits rejection, ADSJ Pandey said in his order on Monday.
In its plea to the court, the STF had said Kappan's Delhi residence was raided on November 11 last year, during which a booklet of the outlawed terror outfit SIMMI with some handwritten remarks on its was found.
The booklet had been sent to the Agra forensic laboratory for matching Kappan's handwriting to that on the book but the laboratory in its report on June 21 this year has said the two handwritings did not match, the STF's plea said.
Accordingly, the accused needed to be interrogated about the booklet and the handwritten remarks on it, it said.
Defence counsel Madhuban Datt Chaturvedi said the STF had sought to interrogate Kappan on an issue forming part of a previously conducted and concluded probe.
It was not about any matter for further or additional investigation, he said.
After filing the charge-sheet in the court, the investigation on any point conducted earlier, cannot be allowed under section 173 (8) of the Criminal Procedure Code, he said.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
