Nearly 16 months after his arrest, Kerala-based journalist and activist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek remains in prison without a trial in the UAPA case against him.
Rejaz was arrested in Nagpur in May 2025 and later booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) took over the investigation from the Nagpur Police, with other agencies, including the Kerala ATS, also looking into the case.
The allegations against Rejaz centre largely on the claim by investigators that they have found allegedly incriminating material on his electronic devices and during a search of his residence in Ernakulam. Police have alleged that he had links with members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and other banned organisations.
Among the material cited by investigators were conversations on Signal and Telegram, phone numbers allegedly belonging to people associated with banned organisations, and literature concerning the CPI (Maoist), Kashmir and armed groups. Police also claimed to have recovered several phones, pen drives, a hard drive, a memory card and other electronic devices from his home.
Investigators had also questioned Rejaz's presence in Nagpur, a city with several sensitive security installations. Police said he had travelled there to meet a woman he had met on Instagram. They also cited photographs taken at a gun shop where the woman had photographed Rejaz holding an air rifle and a pistol.
“It has been 500 days since he was jailed. There have been multiple hearings on his bail application, as well as on a petition seeking to discharge the chargesheet, before the District and Sessions Court in Nagpur. After several hearings on these petitions and repeated postponements, we have now been told that UAPA cases cannot be heard by that court. As a result, the proceedings are being delayed further. We have been actively campaigning to ensure that Rejaz gets bail,” said Hari, Convenor Janakeeya Manushyavakasha Prasthanam, a collective which is part of the group campaigning for Rejaz.
A social media campaign demanding a fair trial and release of Rejaz was organised on September 13, which is observed as Political Prisoners Day in India to commemorate the martyrdom of Jatindra Nath Das, who died in prison after a 63-day-old hunger strike.