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 Bangladeshi national, who has been arrested on charges of stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his residence, entered India through Meghalaya seven months ago and stayed in West Bengal for a few weeks before he moved to Mumbai in search of a job, police sources have revealed.

Mumbai Police officers involved in the interrogation of the accused, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, said the 30-year-old crossed the Dawki river, along the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya, to illegally enter India. He then changed his name to Bijoy Das and began living in the country, they added. 

Police had earlier said that Shehzad is a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh. 

According to a police official, Shehzad said that during his stay in Bengal, he used a local resident’s Aadhaar card to procure a mobile phone SIM card before moving to Mumbai.

The SIM card was registered in the name of one Khukumoni Jahangir Sekha of Bengal, the official said.

After reaching Mumbai, the officer added, the accused chose to work in places where he was not required to furnish any documents. “He studied till Class 12 in Bangladesh and had come to India in search of a job,” the officer said. 

Saif Ali 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 in the early hours of January 16. 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. The actor was discharged from hospital and returned home on Tuesday.

Shehzad, sources earlier said, told police that he stabbed the actor in his back multiple times in an attempt to free himself after he had grabbed hold of him. He also said that he hid in the garden of the building housing Mr Khan flat for around two hours before fleeing the area.

In her statement to the police, Mr Khan’s wife and 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 Mr Khan’s attacker. 

After over 70 hours of an intense manhunt, Shehzad 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.

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.

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.)

Mumbai:

A man was arrested from Maharashtra’s Thane early this morning for allegedly attacking Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan in his house. The accused, identified as Mohammed Aliyan, was caught near the Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali, about 35 kilometres from Mr Saif’s residence.

He said his name was Vijay Das because of his fear of getting caught. He used to work as a housekeeping staff at a bar in Thane.

Saif Ali Khan suffered multiple stab wounds, including on his neck and near the spine, after an intruder entered his upscale Bandra home and attacked him in the early hours of Thursday.

The 54-year-old actor – who was stabbed six times – was rushed to the city’s Lilavati Hospital in an autorickshaw where he underwent emergency surgery. A 2.5-inch piece of the blade was removed from his spine after a five-hour-long surgery.

He is recovering well, doctors treating him said Friday.

Earlier Saturday, a suspect – identified as 31-year-old Aakash Kailash Kannojia from Mumbai – was detained at Chhattisgarh’s Durg railway station.

Officials said he was “caught from the Mumbai-Howrah Jnaneswari Express on the lead of the Mumbai Police.”

“Around 2 pm, when the train reached Durg, the suspect – who was sitting in the general compartment – deboarded and was immediately taken into custody. He is being interrogated,” the Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials said.

“The Mumbai Police had sent the suspect’s photo, train number and location to the RPF, after which he was caught,” they said. The man was travelling without a ticket.

Sources claimed the detained passenger looked like the suspect in the actor-stabbing case.

Saif Ali Khan Attacked At His Mumbai Residence

Saif Ali Khan was attacked when he was with his family members – his wife and fellow actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, and their two sons, four-year-old Jeh and eight-year-old Taimur – at his residence in the 12-floor apartment – Satguru Sharan – in Bandra.

Eliyama Philip – a nurse caring for Jeh – and another staffer were also injured in the attack. In a statement to the police, Ms Philip said she was the first to spot the intruder – who was between 35-40 years old – at Mr Khan’s apartment on the 11th floor.

She also said the knife-wielding attacker also demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore.

A view of the 12-storey building, Satguru Sharan, in which Saif Ali Khan was attacked
Photo Credit: ANI

The 56-year-old said she had been woken by noises in the house around 2 am – three hours after Jehangir had been put to bed. She told the police the attacker first entered Jeh’s room.

She claimed she saw the bathroom door ajar and the light on and first assumed that Ms Kapoor Khan was checking in on her younger son.

“… then I went back to sleep but, again, I realised something was wrong. So I woke up again and saw a man come out of the bathroom and go into the boy’s room.

“I quickly got up and went to Jeh’s room. The attacker then put his finger near his mouth and said “Don’t make any noise, nobody will go out” in Hindi,” Ms Philip said.

When I rushed to pick up Jeh, the man – who was armed with a wooden stick and a long Hexa blade – ran towards me and tried attacking me, she said.

“I tried to block the attack by putting my hand forward, but the blade hit me near the wrists of both my hands and on the middle finger of my left hand,” she said.

“At that time, I asked him, “What do you want?”. Then he said, “I want money.” I asked, “How much do you want?” Then he said in English, “One crore”,” Ms Philip recalled in her police statement.

Saif Ali Khan Confronts Intruder

Hearing Eliyama Philip’s scream, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan rushed out of their room. When Mr Khan asked the intruder what he wanted, he attacked him with a wooden object and the hexa blade, Ms Philip said.

“Saif Sir somehow managed to get away from him and we all ran out of the room and pulled the door of the room,” she said, adding that everyone then went to the upper floor of their home.

The intruder later managed to escape, she said.

Suspect in Saif Ali Khan knife attack incident

According to police sources, there was no sign of forced entry, nor was anyone captured on CCTV entering the premises in the two hours before the attack.

Police sources said the intruder – who entered the actor’s home to commit burglary – had scaled the wall of an adjacent compound to enter the premises.

He was reportedly familiar with the layout of the building and took the stairs on the rear side of the building to reach the floor where the actor lives. He then entered Mr Khan’s home through the fire escape.

Mumbai Police had formed about 30 teams to arrest the accused, who was also captured on CCTV cameras in the building.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the police have gathered several clues in the case pertaining to an attack on actor Saif Ali Khan at his residence, and the culprit will be arrested soon.

Mr Fadnavis’ remarks came as at least two images of the suspect, whose face was clearly captured on CCTVs, have surfaced.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Mr Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio in the state, said: “Police investigation is going on….they have got many clues and I feel the police will very soon zero in (on the culprit).” 

Mr Khan was grievously injured after an intruder stabbed him six times at his residence in Mumbai’s post Bandra West neighbourhood area early on Thursday. The actor, who received multiple stab injuries, including in his neck, underwent an emergency surgery at Lilavati Hospital and is currently recovering.

In one of the images of the suspected attacker that surfaced on Thursday, he is seen taking the stairs while fleeing the building after stabbing the actor. In another image that surfaced on Friday, he is seen in a new set of clothes at, according to sources, Bandra Railway Station. 

Earlier on Friday, reports emerged that a possible suspect had been detained by the police but a top officer later clarified that the man, who was taken to Bandra Police Station, had nothing to do with the case.

According to police sources, the accused had demanded Rs 1 crore after barging inside Mr Khan’s flat.