Mumbai:

The Bangladeshi national arrested for attacking Saif Ali Khan gained entry into the actor’s building in Mumbai’s Bandra area by scaling its compound wall, and found the security guards sleeping at that time, police said on Tuesday.

The Mumbai police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused at the Satguru Sharan building, where the actor resides.

Khan (54) was stabbed repeatedly by the intruder, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir alias Vijay Das (30), inside his 12-floor apartment in the wee hours of January 16. The actor suffered multiple stab injuries in the attack and underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital.

Three days after the attack, the police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city.

A police official said, “Both the security guards in the building where actor Saif Ali Khan resides were sleeping when his attacker entered it by crossing over the boundary wall.” “As he found both the security guards in deep slumber, the accused entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV camera has been installed. The accused removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid making any noise and also switched off his phone,” he said.

“During the probe, the police found that there are no CCTV cameras installed in the building’s corridor. The investigation revealed that one of the two security guards was sleeping in the cabin and the other near the gate,” he added.

In order to recreate the crime scene, the police took the accused to the actor’s building as well as at other places that he possibly visited to have food, to change clothes and to board a train, he said.

The accused is kept in the police lockup either at the Bandra or the Santacruz police stations and no one except the investigation officer has permission to meet him, he said, adding that he is being provided food that other accused are being given.

Police Inspector (Crime) Ajay Lingnurkar has been appointed as the investigation officer in the case, the official said.

Fakir, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh, had been residing in Mumbai for over five months, working odd jobs and associated with a housekeeping agency, the police have said.

A court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded the accused in five-day police custody. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

The seriousness of the courtroom in Bandra, where a Bangladeshi man arrested for allegedly attacking actor Saif Ali Khan was presented on Sunday, momentarily dissipated when two lawyers jostled to represent him.

The unusual drama concerning the high-profile case prompted the magistrate before whom the 30-year-old man had been brought for remand proceedings to act as referee and suggest to the lawyers to appear as a team.

After breaking much sweat, the Mumbai police on Sunday morning arrested Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad from Thane city for allegedly sneaking into the Bollywood star’s Bandra home in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft and repeatedly stabbing him.

Amid heavy police presence, Shehzad was produced before a metropolitan magistrate court in Bandra in the afternoon.

The court asked him if he had any complaints against the police to which Shehzad replied in the negative. He was then taken to a box meant for accused persons in the back end of the courtroom.

A lawyer then came forward claiming to be appearing for the accused.

However, the scene turned dramatic just before he could take the signature of the accused on the ‘vakalatamana’ (legal document authorising a lawyer to appear in a case).

Another lawyer jostled his way to the accused box and took Shehzad’s signature on his vakalatamana, triggering moments of confusion about who would appear for the alleged attacker.

To defuse the situation, the magistrate suggested to both the competing lawyers to represent Shehzad. “You both can appear,” the magistrate said, bringing back the focus on the remand proceedings. The duo agreed.

The court subsequently remanded Shehzad in police custody for five days.

Before arresting the accused, police had rounded up several individuals who resembled him based on the footage of a CCTV camera from the actor’s building.

Saif Ali Khan, one of Bollywood’s leading actors, was repeatedly stabbed with a knife by an intruder inside his 12th-floor apartment in ‘Satguru Sharan’ building in upscale Bandra in the early hours of January 16.

The 54-year-old actor underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital where he was rushed following the incident that took place around 2.30 am. He is recovering and may be discharged soon, doctors have said.

Earlier in the day, police said Shehzad hails from Jhalokathi, also called Jhalakathi, district in southern Bangladesh’s Barisal division, adding that he was in Mumbai for the past five months, during which he did petty jobs, including at a housekeeping agency. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)