Kolkata:

Shariful Islam Shehzad – the illegal migrant from Bangladesh accused of stabbing Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan last week during a home invasion – is a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, his father, Mohammed Ruhul Amin, said Friday in a telephone conversation with NDTV.

Mr Amin said his son – whom he described as 30 years old, with a “heavy” face and long hair, and insisted is not the man Mumbai Police have arrested – fled Bangladesh in March last year.

Police sources told NDTV earlier Shehzad entered India via Meghalaya – he crossed the Dawki River – and stayed in Bengal for a few weeks before making his way to Mumbai in search of a job.

Speaking to NDTV today, his father seemed to suggest Shehzad fled to escape political persecution at the hands of the then-ruling Awami League of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed in August and is also in India. Ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s BNP was then in the opposition.

“Felt He Couldn’t Live In Bangladesh”

“My son went to India in 2024… in the last week of March or first week of April. He had only intention. For 16 years the Hasina government was in power. There were false cases… even mobile theft cases (against him). The political atmosphere was bad (and) my son felt he could not live in the country.”

“So then, at that time, he decided to go to India (to find a job),” he said.

The authorities – who say they have recovered Bangladeshi government documents confirming Shehzad’s nationality – believe he has since been living in India under the name Bijoy Das.

READ | Entered India Illegally, Changed Name: How Saif’s Attacker Hid

Asked if Shehzad fled because of the cases against him, Mr Amin said, “No, he did not.”

“There was (also) a lot of torture. There were cases against him for no crimes. My two sons and I work for the BNP… I hold a post and there were a lot of false cases (against me also).”

“Man In CCTV Footage Not My Son”

Mr Amin also insisted the man caught on CCTV cameras at Saif Ali Khan’s residence – whom the police arrested from Thane Sunday, after tracking him down thanks to a UPI payment for a paratha and some water – is not his son. “The CCTV pictures are not of my son,” he told NDTV.

READ | Paid For Paratha With UPI: How Cops Caught Saif Attack Suspect

“His age is 30. From an early age, his face is heavy, and he has hair on both sides (but it is short) … In the photo (the CCTV footage) the hair reaches till the eyes. That kind of hair is not my son’s. (So) no, it is not him,” he said, repeating what he told news agency IANS a day earlier.

(L) CCTV footage of the suspect, (R) Shariful Shehzad, accused of stabbing Saif

“… my son never keeps his hair long. I believe my son is being framed,” he had said.

READ | “Man On CCTV Doesn’t Look Like My Son’: Saif’s Attacker’s Father 

He also indicated then Shehzad worked in the hospitality industry; he noted the hotels in Mumbai were larger and paid better than in Bengal, or Kolkata, which led many to that belief.

And when NDTV asked him if police from India had informed him of his son’s arrest, he said: “No. No one has come. We don’t know anyone in India. We have no support there.”

Political Squabbles

Shehzad’s Bangladeshi nationality has also triggered a political row between the BJP-led alliance in power in Maharashtra and the opposition. This week BJP leader and Maharashtra Ports Minister Nitesh Rane suggested the attack on Mr Khan was ‘not real’, and seemed to refer to him as “garbage”. 

“Look at what Bangladeshis are doing in Mumbai. They entered Saif Ali Khan’s house. Earlier they used to stand at road crossings… now they are entering houses. Maybe he came to take him (Mr Khan) away. It is good… garbage should be taken away,” he said.

The Bangladeshi nationality angle has fed into a ongoing row between the BJP and the opposition over border security. The latter has alleged the thousands trying to cross illegally since Sheikh Hasina was overthrown are being courted by the opposition, including Bengal’s ruling Trinamool, as a vote bank.

Court Extends Police Custody

A Mumbai court, this afternoon, extended police custody of Shehzad till January 29. The court said the cops needed more time to recover crucial evidence, including some of his clothing.

READ | Saif Ali Khan Attacker Jailed For 5 Days, Claims He Is Being Framed

Like his father, Shehzad’s lawyer has been equally insistent his client is innocent, and is being made a scapegoat in response to furore over the attack on a prominent celebrity living in Bandra West – one of Mumbai’s most exclusive neighbourhoods. However, according to some reports, Shehzad has confessed (which is not admissible in court), telling cops, “…haan, maine hi kiya hai (yes, I did it)”.

Saif Ali Khan suffered six stab wounds, including one near his spinal cord, in the attack, and had to be rushed into emergency surgery. He was discharged five days later and is back home.

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The 30-year-old Bangladeshi national, who was arrested on Sunday on charges of attacking Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his house, has told police that he stabbed the actor in his back multiple times in an attempt to free himself from his tight clutches and escape.

Sources in the police said the accused, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, also hid in the garden of the building housing Mr Khan’s flat, in upscale Bandra, for around two hours before fleeing the area.

Mr Khan, who suffered grievous injuries in the attack that took place in the early hours of Thursday, underwent an emergency surgery at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital. 

Doctors said they removed a 2.5-inch piece of a broken knife from his spine during the surgery. If the knife had pierced 2 mm deeper, it could have caused a severe injury, they noted.

The 54-year-old actor was discharged from the hospital and returned home on Tuesday. 

According to a source, Shehzad entered Mr Khan’s flat on the 12th floor in Satguru Sharan building from the bathroom window with an intention to commit robbery. “After he entered the house, the actor’s staff spotted him and started arguing with him. Soon, Saif Ali Khan came there and sensing a threat, he held the accused tightly from the front,” the source said. 

“As the accused did not get time to move, he started stabbing Mr Khan in his back to free himself from the actor’s grip. As Mr  Khan was injured in the attack, the accused managed to break free from his grip,” the source added. 

The source said Mr Khan then quickly locked the main door of his flat, assuming Shehzad was still inside, but the accused managed to flee using the same route through which he had entered. 

“The accused then came down and hid himself in the garden of the building for around two hours before fleeing the spot,” the source added. 

Police had earlier said the accused had entered and exited the flat through a bathroom window, the duct shaft and a ladder he used to enter from the duct.

In her statement to the police, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan recalled the attack on her husband and said she saw the intruder stab him repeatedly. “The attacker was aggressive. I saw him attack Saif repeatedly…Our priority was to take Saif to the hospital,” she said. 

A nurse caring for the couple’s younger son Jehangir (Jeh), Eliyama Philips – who first encountered the intruder – said the accused had demanded Rs 1 crore. 

Multiple teams of the police and the crime branch worked on several inputs and analysed footage from several CCTV cameras to track down Khan’s attacker.  

On Friday, a carpenter was held as he resembled the screengrab of the suspect from the CCTV footage at the actor’s building, but he was released later as he was found to have no link to the crime. A day later, a suspect was detained in Chhattisgarh’s Durg railway station but was released on Sunday.

After over 70 hours of an intense manhunt, the accused was arrested from near Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali in Thane, about 35 kilometres from Mr Khan’s house in Bandra, on Sunday. He was subsequently remanded in police custody for five days.

Senior police officer Dixit Gedam told reporters that Shehzad is a Bangladeshi national. “He does not have any Indian documents. Some things found in his possession show that he is a Bangladeshi national,” Mr Gedam said.  

Police also said the accused has been living in Mumbai for the past four months and had changed his name to Bijoy Das. 

Defence lawyer Sandeep D Sherkhane, however, said the case has been hyped because of the presence of Mr Khan.  

Mr Sherkhane also contended that his client has been residing in the country for several years and has vital documents (for staying in the country), and that his family is also living in India.

Mumbai:

A 30-year-old Bangladeshi national, who was arrested on Sunday on charges of stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his house, has reportedly confessed to the crime, saying “haan, maine hi kiya hai (yes, I did it)”.

According to police sources, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad was arrested from near Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali in Thane, about 35 kilometres from Mr Khan’s house in Mumbai’s Bandra area. The breakthrough came after over 70 hours of an intense manhunt that was launched following the attack during a failed burglary bid in the early hours of Thursday. 

After being caught, when a senior officer asked Shehzad if he was the one who had attacked Mr Khan, the accused said “haan, maine hi kiya hai“, a source said.

The police traced Shehzad to a labour camp in a forested area based on the information provided by a labour contractor. 

As soon as Shehzad got a whiff that a team of 100 policemen had reached and were looking for him in Thane, the accused hid himself in the bushes in a forested area, a source said. “He was arrested after a search operation that lasted for seven hours in the city,” the source added. 

Earlier in the day, senior police officer Dixit Gedam told reporters that Shehzad is a Bangladeshi national. “He does not have any Indian documents. Some things found in his possession show that he is a Bangladeshi national,” Mr Gedam said. 

Police also said the accused has been living in Mumbai for the past four months and had changed his name to Bijoy Das.

Defence lawyer Sandeep D Sherkhane, however, said the case has been hyped because of the presence of Mr Khan. 

Mr Sherkhane also contended that his client has been residing in the country for several years and has vital documents (for staying in the country), and that his family is also living in India.

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

Fifty-four-year-old Khan suffered grievous injuries, after he was stabbed six times reportedly by Shehzad during a failed burglary attempt at the actor’s 12th floor residence in “Satguru Sharan” building in upscale Bandra. The doctors who performed an emergency surgery had removed a 2.5-inch piece of a broken knife from his spine afterwards.

If the knife had pierced 2 mm deeper, it could have caused a severe injury, the doctors had noted.

In her statement to the police, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan recalled the attack on her husband and said she saw the intruder stab him repeatedly. “The attacker was aggressive. I saw him attack Saif repeatedly…Our priority was to take Saif to the hospital,” she said. 

A nurse caring for the couple’s younger son Jehangir (Jeh), Eliyama Philips – who first encountered the intruder – said the accused had demanded Rs 1 crore. 

Multiple teams of the police and the crime branch worked on several inputs and analysed footage from several CCTV cameras to track down Khan’s attacker. 

On Friday, a carpenter was held as he resembled the screengrab of the suspect from the CCTV footage at the actor’s building, but he was released later as he was found to have no link to the crime. A day later, a suspect was detained in Chhattisgarh’s Durg railway station but was released on Sunday.