Mohammad Alam, a Rampur resident cab driver who spent 757 days in Uttar Pradesh jail is set to walk out of jail as he got bail in all the cases registered against him.
31 year old Muslim man was arrested on 5 October 2020 along with journalist Siddique Kappan and two Muslim youth while on their way to meet the family of Dalit woman who was raped and murdered by upper-caste Hindu men. They were charged under draconian UAPA and sedition. The UP government alleged that the Muslim men were the part of a larger conspiracy to “foment religious discord and spread terror in the country.”
A bench of Allahabad High Court on 23 August, had granted bail to Alam in UAPA case, stating that no incriminating article or evidence was recovered from his possession, making him the first of the accused to receive bail but he was not free yet.
Today, on 31 October, Alam was granted bail by Lucknow PMLA court in the case against him registered by the Enforcement Directorate. Another accused Siddique Kappan who was granted bail in UAPA case by Supreme Court of India last month, was denied bail in PMLA case today.
“Alam will be freed after furnishing the sureties and bail bonds,” his legal team told Maktoob.
“The main reason for his arrest is because he is Muslim and I vehemently believe it. There is nothing else in the case other than that factor which he has been attacked for. Their goal is to dehumanise and harass more Muslims and it is happening openly. Now that it has happened to me, I am bearing the brunt of it,” Bushra Alam, 30, wife of Alam earlier told Maktoob.
Bushra and Alam got married on 11 March 2019.
“Despite being innocent, he has spent more time in jail than he has with me,” Bushra lamented.
