A journalist and three other people who were heading to Hathras and were arrested by Uttar Pradesh police earlier this week were searched under the Illicit Activities (Prevention) and Sedition Act, according to an FIR registered in Mathura on Wednesday.
The four, who had been arrested in Mathura on Monday, had been placed in pre-trial detention, but today an FIR was registered against them at the Mant de Mathura police station and they were subsequently brought before a court.
These four include Atiq-ur-Rehman from Muzaffar Nagar, Siddiq from Malappuram (Kerala), Masood from Bahraich and Alam from Rampur. Siddiq is a journalist. They were arrested Monday night after a laptop and some objectionable literature related to “Justice for Hathras Victim” were allegedly recovered from their possession while on their way to Hathras.
They are allegedly linked to the Campus Front of India (CFI) student wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and were coming from Delhi and heading towards Hathras in a car and were detained, police said.
The UP government has argued that there is a conspiracy to whip caste and communal violence in the state and the Hathras police are now investigating a conspiracy angle to the case, which has created a political storm.
The Mathura Rural Sheerish Chand Police Superintendent (SP) confirmed that these four are now on file for sedition and other charges. He reported that the four were presented to the Court on Wednesday and sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
The FIR has been registered under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between two groups), 295A of IPC (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage feelings) 124 (A) (Sedition) together with sections 17 and 14 of Illegal activities (Prevention) 1967 Law and articles 65, 72 and 76 of the Information Technology Law.
The FIR blames them for trying to incite riots in Hathras and fueling the caste violence for which they were collecting donations through those who work for the Carrd.co website.
He further said that the money transfer was not carried out by a legal method and that the money thus obtained from international sources was going to cause disturbances. It was alleged that the “I am not the daughter of India” pamphlets were intended for these illicit purposes.
The men are accused of attempting to riot, spread rumors, gather people and launch a hate campaign against India through their website. The website, police said, was teaching ways to cause a disturbance and move safely after achieving the goal. The four detainees were accused of being involved in all these activities through the website, alleged Prabal Pratap Singh, a deputy inspector and whistleblower in the case, according to whom these unlawful acts make the four responsible for charges of sedition.
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