Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seeking his intervention to ensure proper treatment to Kerala-based journalist and UAPA detainee Siddiq Kappan, who has been admitted to a Mathura hospital.
Kappan, who was arrested by the UP police while he was on his way to Hathras in October last as part of the protest against the rape and murder of a dalit girl, has tested positive to Covid test and he is also suffering from diabetes and heart disease.
Vijayan requested Yogi to shift him to a super-speciality hospital where he can get proper treatment. The chief minister also referred to media reports that Kappan is kept chained to his hospital bed and emphasised the need to show humanitarian consideration to the accused.
The chief minister’s letter comes in the wake of persistent demands by the UAPA detainee’s family as well as journalist colleagues, who have threatened the launch of an agitation to secure his release.
Even as Vijayan wrote to the UP Chief Minister, 11 Kerala MPs have written a letter to new Supreme Court Chief Justice N V Ramana, requesting Kappan’s immediate transfer to Delhi’s AIIMS as his health condition has worsened.
The Supreme Court had earlier this month granted five days’ special bail to Kappan to meet his ailing mother in Kerala. The court allowed the trip under the vigil of the UP police and had put the condition that he is not allowed to interact with public.
Kappan had sought the bail citing the deteriorating health condition of his mother. His lawyer, Kapil Sibal, told the court that doctors had given up on her condition and said that she may not survive for long.
Acting on humanitarian grounds, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde allowed Kappan to travel to his home state and report back to the UP Prison by the end of the fifth day.
