After a nearly three-day long manhunt, the Mumbai Police nabbed the main accused in actor Saif Ali Khan’s stabbing case from Maharashtra’ Thane in the wee hours of Sunday.
DCP Zone 9 Dikshit Gedam said that the arrested 30-year-old accused, identified as Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, used the name ‘Vijay Das’ in Mumbai after likely making an illegal entry into India from Bangladesh.
Gedam said prima facie, the accused is a Bangladeshi and had came to Mumbai 5-6 months ago. “He stayed in Mumbai for a few days and then in the vicinity of Mumbai. The accused used to work in a housekeeping agency,” he added.
The accused had broken into Saif Ali Khan’s 12th floor apartment in Satguru Sharan building in the Bandra area in the early hours of Thursday, January 16. Shariful, who entered the house with an intent of robbery, had stabbed Saif multiple times during a scuffle with the actor. Following which, he fled the scene.
The accused reportedly used multiple names, including Vijay Das, Bijoy Das, and Mohammad Iliyas.
How did Mumbai Police nab the accused?
Mumbai Police and the city crime branch had formed as many as 20 teams to trace the accused, in pursuit of which they detained several, now unrelated, suspects.
During the investigation, police found that the accused was seen outside Dadar railway station thrice and that he had gone to Worli Koliwada, an official said.
Hundreds of CCTV footage were examined, following which police found out that the attacker had visited a labour contractor in the area, the official added.
At reaching out to the labour contractor, police got all the details about the 30-year-old accused, news agency PTI reported. Based on the directions from the contractor, police tracked the accused down to a labour camp in a forested area near the metro construction site, behind the TCS Call Center in Hiranandani Estate, Thane west.
In the past, the accused had also worked for a Thane-based hotel and so far, no criminal record in his name has come up.
Saif Ali Khan under recovery
Notably, when the accused had entered Saif Ali Khan’s apartment, he was first spotted by the actor’s employee Eliyamma Philips alias Lima. She tried to stop him but ended up getting injuries on her hand during a tussle with him.
Saif Ali Khan had heard her scream, following which he intervened and fought with the attacker, getting severely injured in the process.
The actor underwent multiple surgeries at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital and was said to be out of danger. On Friday, he was shifted from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a special room, where is currently under recovery. Doctors at the hospital said that Saif Ali Khan could be discharged by Monday.
(with PTI inputs)