Maharashtra ATS claims Kerala journalist is ‘linked to terror outfits'; booked under UAPA
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad took over the probe against Kerala-based independent journalist Rejaz M. Sheeba Sydeek on Thursday. The NIA court was informed that the accused, who has been in police custody for a week, allegedly has links to banned terror outfits like the Hizbul Mujahideen and JKLF. Cases under Sections 38 and 39 of the UAPA have been filed.
The police also said that he allegedly worked for a front of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and was a part of their core WhatsApp group. Several incriminating items have allegedly been found.
They also sought 10 days' police custody. But the special NIA court rapped the Maharashtra Police for its failure to provide seizure documents. The evidence was seized from Kerala on May 11. The court, while granting three days' police custody of the accused, asked the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad to produce the seizure documents and panchnama.
'The court gave them a lashing and asked them why the seizure panchnama was not produced though the evidence was seized on May 11,' a lawyer told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, top government sources told The Hindu that the female friend who was with him at a hotel in Nagpur is also under the scanner. 'The girl is studying law in Nagpur at present and hails from Bihar. The accused has claimed that he came to Nagpur to meet her. We have so far only questioned her. But we think that she is more revolutionary. She is likely to be booked soon. She is in contact with many more people. So far, she has cooperated with the questioning whenever we have called her,' official sources said.
Several investigating agencies have already started looking into the case. The Kerala ATS, the Maharashtra ATS, the Intelligence Bureau, and State and Central intelligence units have started digging into the matter, top sources told The Hindu.
Maoists links alleged
'A lot of things have been found in the last few days. We have not yet been able to access the material seized in Kerala, though. Among the material seized from him, we have found social media pages of banned organisations, and we also found evidence of propaganda that he initiated in support of the CPI (Maoist). We have found a secret document of the JKLF that talks about what should be done as a comrade. He has written about the Kashmir issue. There are previous cases against him in Kerala. There is no doubt that he has Maoist links. We are in the process of finding out if his work was only propaganda or something else,' an official said.
'He is in touch with Maoist leader and CPI (Maoist) central committee member Murali Kannempilly. He has admitted to this. He is a part of the core group formed by Kannempilly and is also a part of his WhatsApp group. We have found that he works for a front of the CPI (Maoist),' the official said.
The police are now probing why Mr. Sydeek was in Pune in April 2023 and whether he has any association with Kabeer Kala Manch. They suspect that he met Elgar Parishad's Santosh Shelar, alias Painter, and Prashant Kamble, alias Laptop. Both of them are under detention at present.
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