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Background
Mohammad Alam hails from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh state. He was a Gramin Seva rickshaw driver. He bought his car in partnership with another relative in September 2020. Alam was a driver with Ola, a ride-sharing app, before his arrest.
Alam was arrested on his way to Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. Alam was ferrying journalist Siddique Kappan and Campus Front of India leaders Atikur Rahman and Masud Ahmed to Hathras to express solidarity with the bereaved family of the Dalit girl who was brutally gang-raped and murdered by the dominant caste in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.
Among the other three, the Uttar Pradesh police falsely accused Alam of being an accomplice in the alleged conspiracy to create communal violence and disrupt peace in Hathras. On October 8, 2020, Alam was booked under FIR 199/2020 and charged with section 17 of UAPA.
His wife, Bushra, recalls, “Alam and I got married on March 11, 2019. His business was not doing well then. “The lockdown happened, and they had a tough time, but as soon as he started earning again, he was arrested.” “The main reason for his arrest is that he is a Muslim. Alam has been targeted for his identity. “
Charges and allegations
Sections 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to incite religious feelings), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds), 124A (Sedition), Sections 17 (Punishment for raising funds for the terrorist act) and 18 (Punishment for conspiracy) of the UAPA, Section 65 (Tampering with computer source documents), 75 (Offense or contravention committed outside India), and 12B of the IT Act
Alam is also named by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Current Status
A bail application filed by Alam’s counsel on November 13, 2020, was rejected.
On June 16, 2022, the Mathura court dropped three bailable charges against Alam when the police failed to complete their probe within six months. However, the UAPA and sedition charges remained.
On August 23, 2022, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Alam. The bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav observed that “no incriminating article” had been found in his possession and no “material could be detected” from Alam’s phone to establish his relations with any terrorist or terror activities, and there is “no reasonable ground” to believe that the accusations against Alam are prima facie true.
“He was granted bail by the Lucknow Sessions Court on 31 October 2022 in the PMLA case as well.” Alam is the first accused to be freed in the Hathras conspiracy case.