Accused in Saif Ali Khan attack case seeks bail, claims he was booked in false case

Mumbai: The Bangladeshi national arrested for allegedly stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his Bandra house this January has moved a court here for bail claiming he has been implicated in the case.

In a plea before the sessions court on Friday, the accused Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, claimed "the first information report (FIR) is patently false and a false case has been registered against him". He also said the police had not informed him the grounds of his arrest as mandated in law thus violating his fundamental rights. The sessions court is expected to hear the plea on April 1.

Khan (54) was stabbed multiple times with a knife by an intruder inside his 12th-floor apartment in upscale Bandra on January 16, following which he underwent emergency surgery at Lilavati Hospital. The police arrested Shariful two days after the attack.

The accused, in the plea, claimed his arrest was illegal, as the investigating agency had "clearly and blatantly disregarded" section 47 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which pertains to informing a person about the grounds of his arrest as well as right to bail.

The plea stated that even if the statements of witnesses are taken as gospel truth, without admitting anything on record, for the sake of arguments, it won't be able to fulfil the ingredient of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 311 (robbery or dacoity committed with the intent to cause death or grievous hurt). Shariful, in the plea filed through Ajay Gawali, said all necessary recovery and discovery was done, the investigation is practically complete, and mere filing of chargesheet is pending.

The bail plea stated the accused has cooperated with the investigation and "no useful purpose will be served by detaining him further in custody". At the time of Shariful's arrest, his father had claimed it was a case of mistaken identity and that his son was not the one seen in the CCTV footages from inside the actor's building. The police, however, had debunked this claim by stating it had relied on facial recognition technology.