Attack on Saif: Accused claims arrest was illegal

The Bangladeshi national accused of breaking into actor Saif Ali Khan's home and stabbing him has sought immediate release from jail, claiming that the police did not give him in writing the grounds for his arrest before apprehending him, which is mandatory.

- Revu Suresh

MUMBAI:

In a plea filed before the metropolitan magistrate court in Bandra on Friday, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, 30, stated that his arrest was in violation of section 47 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which mandates that a police officer arresting any person without a warrant should communicate full particulars of the offence for which they are being arrested or other grounds for such an arrest.

The plea, filed through advocate Ajay Gawli, relied on various Supreme Court and high court orders holding that the law mandates furnishing the reasons and grounds of arrest to the accused before apprehending them, and that not complying with this mandatory requirement renders the arrest illegal.