Saif Ali Khan attack case: Accused slept at Bandra bus stop after incident; items in bag suspicious, cops say

Mumbai: The man arrested on Sunday in the January 16 Saif Ali Khan attack case was in Bandra, where the actor resides, till 7am on the day of the incident and slept at a bus stop, a police official said.

Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, a Bangladeshi national who had illegally entered India and changed his name to Bijoy Das, was held earlier in the day from adjoining Thane city.

Police said he had entered the Bollywood star's home, in Satguru Sharan building in upscale Bandra, in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft.

"He slept at a bus stop near Patwardhan Garden in Bandra West till 7am on January 16 after the incident. Later he boarded a train and reached Worli (in central Mumbai)," the official said.

"Our probe has found that he took the stairs till the seventh-eighth floor, then entered the duct area, climbed to the 12th floor using a pipe, broke into the actor's flat through a bathroom window. He then came out from the bathroom, where he was seen by the actor's staff, which led to the chain of events that resulted in the attack," the official said.

The official said the accused started arguing with a nanny in the house and sought Rs 1 crore, and hearing the ruckus, Khan arrived there and nabbed him from the front.

"The accused was startled and stabbed Khan in the back. Khan later locked the flat believing the accused was pinned inside. However, the accused managed to flee from the same area from where he had entered. We have recovered a hammer, screwdriver, nylon rope and other materials from his bag," the official said.

These items make the police suspect he may have criminal antecedents, the official added.

The accused came to know that he had attacked a Bollywood star only after seeing television news reportage and social media posts of the incident, the official said.

Meanwhile, another official claimed Shehzad got time to flee as a detection personnel from Bandra police station took the CCTV digital video recorder (DVR) of Khan's building, and these were not shared with the Mumbai Crime Branch.

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.

He has been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 311 (robbery or dacoity with the intent to cause grievous hurt or death), 331(4) (house-breaking) and other offences as well as provisions of Passport Act, the official said.

A detailed probe has begun into how he managed to enter the country illegally, the kind of documents he possesses and how he obtained them, the official said.

The accused was remanded in 5-day police custody after he was produced in Bandra court this afternoon.

The court observed that the police's contention of an international conspiracy cannot be ruled out.

Police told court the alleged attacker was a Bangladeshi national and there was need to find the motive behind his act. Police also told court they needed to find out if there was an international conspiracy linked to the case.

Accepting the police's contention after perusing documents on record, the court said the prosecution's submission of international conspiracy "cannot be said to be impossible".

Incidentally, during the remand hearing in the Bandra metropolitan magistrate's court, defence lawyer Sandeep D Sherkhane contended his client was residing in the country for several years and has vital documents (for staying in the country) and that his family is also residing in India.

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.