Terror-accused Popular Front of India (PFI) ‘Think Tank’ Siddique Kappan allegedly feigned ignorance in court about his co-accused, including the PFI Hit Squad trainer Anshad Badruddin. Kappan’s ‘obliviousness’ is being demolished in the Lucknow NIA court during the ongoing Hathras riots conspiracy case trial.

In this case, Kappan is accused of trying to incite violence and riots using propaganda. Kappan from Malappuram (married and settled in Kozhikode) was arrested along with three others near Mathura in October 2020. Another PFI terrorist, Badruddin, a native of Pandalam in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, was taken into custody by the UP anti-terrorist unit in Lucknow in February 2021.

Kappan tried to escape punishment by claiming he did know the co-accused, who were PFI terrorists. Prosecutors have evidence that Kappan shared the same room in Delhi with martial arts expert Badruddin and the bomb maker Firoz Khan. They stayed together at Delhi’s PFI-linked National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO) office.

Kappen claimed he did not meet the co-accused, but evidence showed they stayed together. The prosecution countered Kappan’s argument with WhatsApp chats, mobile phone location data, and proof that they had stayed together in Delhi. Kappan, Anshad Badruddin and Firoz Khan were close friends on WhatsApp.

In his confessional statement, Badruddin stated that in September 2020, a meeting of hit squad leaders was organised at Manjeri Green Valley Academy. At this meeting, Kappan presented a list of 25 Hindu organisation leaders to be eliminated in North Bharat. The co-accused also admitted that Kappan had given them instructions.

Badruddin described Kappan as a PFI think tank. Badruddin and his accomplice Firoz Khan had testified in court that Kappen took ‘classes’ to inspire PFI hit squad members.

Green Valley was PFI’s sophisticated arms, martial arts training and indoctrination facility in Kerala. This was also where Muslim youngsters were moulded into religious extremism under the garb of free education. Kappan initially claimed that he did not attend the terror camp at Green Valley in Manjeri.

Kappan’s deception unravelled when the prosecution presented the WhatsApp chats and voice messages Kappan had with organiser KP Kamal about the camp. Kamal was a PFI Commander and the PFI Delhi Office Manager who dispatched and managed the PFI Hit Squad teams. Kamal absconded immediately after Kappan was arrested but was detained by the UP Police Special Task Force (STF) from Malappuram in March 2023.

Kappan’s falsehood was exposed when the prosecution produced evidence that the mobile phone locations of Kamal, Kappan, Badruddin, Khan, and others were in Manjeri Green Valley when the camp occurred.

The prosecution refuted Kappan’s denial that he was not acquainted with Badruddin by submitting a record of WhatsApp chats between Kappan and Badaruddin from 2017. Kappan also shared detailed notes with Badruddin justifying the PFI’s stand on political developments. The chat also clearly shows that Kappan specifically recommended the names of PFI operatives be included in the hit squad training camp.

Kappan also knew the code words for the hit squad members. He communicated in code language, occasionally using Arabic words. Kappan is no small fish, having taught and mentored PFI’s secretive Hit Squad groups.

The PFI group faced a case filed against them by the UP Police under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). They were also charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Kappan has been granted bail while the other accused are still in jail in UP.

While granting bail, Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad HC said, “Except for allegations that Rs. 5,000 was transferred to the bank account of the co-accused, Atikur Rahman, there is no other transaction, either in the bank account of the accused-applicant (Kappan) or in the bank account of the co-accused (Atikur Rahman).” Rahman was the Campus Front of India (CFI), the PFI’s outlawed Islamist organisation’s student/campus wing’s national treasurer.

Kappan and his handlers were wise enough not to engage in financial transactions directly. Chartered Accountant KA Rauf Sherif (a native of Anchal in the Kollam district of Kerala) handled this, allegedly receiving Rs 1.36 crore from fraudulent hawala transactions. It is believed this amount is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sherif served as CFI’s General Secretary. HinduPost detailed Sharif’s arrest in December 2020 while attempting to escape from Bharat via a flight to the UAE. He confessed that for PFI, the killing of a Dalit girl in Hathras was a propaganda issue. Kappan’s team and others were sent there to inflame the Hathras incident.

Incidentally, the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) charges in Kochi granted Sherif bail in February 2021. He chose not to execute the bail because he was concerned that the Uttar Pradesh Police may take him into custody regarding the case filed in Mathura against Kappan and three others.

Back when these PFI terrorists were detained, anti-Hindu publications tried their best to whitewash ‘Journalist’ Kappan, claiming he was a victim—absurd arguments like being made to relieve himself in a bucket while in jail were flouted. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has made it amply clear what his government’s policy is against terrorists and anti-social elements.

The chargesheet against Kappan said, “his writings can be classified as communal. During riots, taking the name of a minority and talking about events related to them can incite sentiments. Responsible journalists do not do such communal reporting. Kappan only and only reports to incite Muslims.”

Instead of concentrating and deciding on one case as is the norm in several countries, courts in Bharat jump from hearing one case to another. Should they complete the trial in one case before moving on to the next? Does this time lag help criminals and terrorists?

Pakistani ISI-trained terrorists are suspected of triple-cross. They might confess (provide bits and pieces of information, including false ones) to our intelligence agencies and covertly return to the ISI fold once they get bail. Kappan now claims that his trial might not be fair.