The 72-hour-long drama involving the elusive accused in the murderous attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan finally ended on Sunday, as the Mumbai police finally arrested the real culprit -a Bangladeshi national - behind the sensational crime from the neighbouring Thane city.
A day after the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel detained a 31-year-old suspect in connection with Thursday’s attack on Saif, the Mumbai police zeroed in on the real accused - identified as Shariful Islam Shahzad (30) - from Hiranandani Estate at Thane (west).
Shariful, who hails from Rajabariya village in Nalchity sub-region of Jhalokati district in southern Bangladesh, had illegally crossed over to India some six months and been living in Mumbai under the false name of Bijoy Das.
The police said that during the questioning after his arrest, Shariful admitted to having committed the crime.
After his arrest, Shariful was produced before a holiday court in Mumbai, which remanded him in police custody for five days.
The police had sought Shariful’s custody for 14 days to establish the motive behind his breaking into Saif’s house, to ascertain where he had hidden the cloths that he wore at the time of crime, what was the motive behind his entry to Saif’s house, where did he procure the weapon, how did he enter India and how did he break into Saif’s house and why did he assume a false name after coming to India.
During the knife attack carried out on him allegedly by Shariful in the small hours of January 16, Saif had sustained six stab wounds, including the one in his spine while he was grappling an intruder in the actor’s 12th floor apartment in posh “Satguru Sharan†building at Bandra (W) in north-west Mumbai. The knife attack on the actor had taken place between 2 am and 2.30 am on Thursday, after a failed attempt of a burglary.
After his admission to the Lilavati Hospital, the actor had undergone a surgery for removal of a knife stuck in his spine and also plugging the leakage of spinal fluid. During a surgery carried out on him immediately afterwards, the doctors attending on Saif removed a 2.5-inch piece of knife from Saif’s spine.
During the preliminary interrogation. Shariful admitted to have sneaked into the actor’s building on the night of January 15.
Earlier, while seeking the custody of the accused for 14 days, the police cited several grounds for his custody. “The robbery was the motive behind the crime was robbery,†a senior police officer said.
The theft attempt failed after a house maid saw and raised an alarm, prompting Saif to come out of his bedroom. The actor resisted Shariful’s attempt, resulting in a scuffle between the two-in which the latter stabbed him six times before fleeing the building empty handed.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that after stepping out of Saif’s building post crime, Shariful headed straight to Bandra railway station where he boarded a Churchgate-bound train in the early hours of Thursday and got down at Dadar, from where he walked to some location in Worli. Later in the morning, he headed to Thane. En route, he changed clothes and his appearance.
After seeing his photographs and video clips go viral on social media, Shariful reportedly hid himself at Thane creek near Thane’s Kasarvadavali area. “Using the technical intel, we traced the accused to Thane,†Deputy Commissioner of Police (IX) Dikshit Gedam said.
“After his illegal entry to Mumbai, he was working for a house-keeping agency after coming to Mumbai. He does not have any prior criminal record, and further investigations are on,†Gedam said.
The preliminary investigations have revealed that when he entered Saif’s home, he did not know that he had barged into a celebrity’s home.
Incidentally Shariful is the third person that the Mumbai police have taken into custody in connection with the murderous attack on Saif. Earlier, the Mumbai police had revealed that they had detained one Waris Ali but was let off later, while another suspect named Akash Kailash Kanojia who they arrested from the Mumbai-Kolkata Jnaneshwari Express at Durg in Chhattisgarh on Thursday.
Both Ali and Kanojia were apparently ‘clones’ of the real accused who is now in custody, after remaining absconding for three days.
The Bandra police have registered a case against Shariful under sections 311 (robbery or dacoity with the intent to cause grievous hurt or death, 331(4) (house-breaking) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Passport Act, 1967.
Meanwhile, Saif is stated to be convalescing well at the Lilavati Hospital where he underwent multiple surgeries after the brazen attack and is likely to be discharged in a couple of days, medicos indicated.
