Cops fail to give notice, MNS activist held for extortion freed

MUMBAI: Holding his arrest to be illegal since he was not served a mandatory notice for appearance under Section 35(3) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), a magistrate court released an MNS activist accused of threatening and extorting a road work contractor in south Mumbai.The accused, Ravindra Shinde, was arrested on Saturday. Counsel Rajendra Shirodkar, who appeared for him along with Archit Sakhalkar, cited an SC order that said a notice must be issued under Section 35(3) for offences that attract a jail term of up to seven years. Public prosecutor R A Patil said police followed procedures. Shirodkar said the magistrate noted that while police complied with provisions on communication of grounds of arrest under Section 47(1) of BNSS and informed Shinde's relatives as required under Section 48(2) and (3), the probe officer failed to demonstrate that a notice under Section 35(3) was issued. —S Ahmed Ali