Kochi: The Aluva police have invoked section 353 on a green activist who tried to stop the barge that carried hazardous waste generated from ISRO. Activist Shibu Manuel, who was arrested on Tuesday, was charged under section 353 of IPC (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duty) which is punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
The case was registered on November 6 last year and the arrest was delayed for almost two months.
Advocate Sebastian Paul said that Shibu Manuel was obstructing an alleged discharge of toxic waste. He was not acting on his own interest but to protect the environment. The police could have considered the same before going ahead with the arrest, he said.
The Aluva police claimed that they had acted on the basis of a complaint by an ISRO official. “As per the complaint, the accused obstructed a government official who was carrying out his official duty. As section 353 is to be charged, we arrested him and produced him before the magistrate,” a police source said.
The activists questioned the way in which the arrest was carried out from his house early in the morning and the delay in arresting him after the case was registered in November. They alleged that the ISRO officials had exerted pressure on the police to arrest him.
