Saif Ali Khan stabbing: More than one person involved? Police explore new angle

The police have arrested Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir alias Vijay Das, a Bangladeshi national.

The Mumbai police are probing the Saif Ali Khan stabbing case with a fresh angle as they suspect that more than one person might be involved in the brazen attack on the actor inside his house.

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan discharged from Lilavati Hospital.(HT file photo)

On January 19, three days after the attack, the police arrested Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir alias Vijay Das, a Bangladeshi national, from Maharashtra's Thane. A court on Friday extended the police custody of Shariful till January 29.

While seeking further custody, the police cited suspicion about the involvement of more persons in the crime as one of the grounds for seeking the arrested accused's custody in the remand application, an official told the news agency PTI.

The official told the news agency that the Bangladeshi national had not been cooperating with the investigation team. He hasn't revealed the shop from where he purchased the knife used to attack Saif Ali Khan inside his Bandra home.

Accused's father claims son's innocence

Meanwhile, the father of the Bangladeshi man said he would soon approach that country's foreign ministry and the Indian High Commission for his son's release.

In a 12-minute interview, Mohammad Ruhul, the father of Shariful Islam, told PTI from Bangladesh that his son did not have proper documentation for his stay in India and he lived in constant fear of being arrested.

"I will get in touch with the Bangladeshi foreign ministry and also seek help from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka for the release of my son," Ruhul said.

He claimed that he learned about his son's arrest through Facebook and news channels and added he had not been contacted by police in this connection.

"The police have not said anything to us," Ruhul said.

Meanwhile, an official said that fingerprints collected from Khan's apartment matched the accused's.

Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times in his Bandra apartment on the night of January 16. A part of the knife, which was lodged close to his spine, was removed after a complicated surgery. Khan was later discharged.

With inputs from PTI