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Saif Ali Khan stabbing: Cops say facial recognition of accused needed to match with CCTV footage
Saif Ali Khan was allegedly stabbed multiple times by a knife-wielding intruder inside his flat in Bandra in early hours of Jan 16.
Days after nabbing the accused in the actor Saif Ali Khan attack case, Mumbai Police on Friday said it has to “conduct facial recognition of the Bangladeshi man to ascertain if he was the person seen in the CCTV footage from the building housing actor's apartment in Mumbai's Bandra.
Saif Ali Khan was allegedly stabbed multiple times by a knife-wielding intruder inside his 12th-floor flat in upscale Satguru Sharan building in Bandra in the early hours of January 16.
Saif Ali Khan was admitted to Lilavati Hospital, where he underwent two surgeries following stab injuries, including on his neck and near the spine. Saif Ali Khan was discharged from the private hospital on January 21.
Mumbai Police arrested the accused, Shareeful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir (30), on January 19 on the basis of CCTV visuals from the actor's apartment that showed the alleged intruder at the staircase of the building.
Also read: More than one person involved in Saif Ali Khan stabbing case? Police explore new angle
The police on Friday produced the accused before a magistrate's court , which extended his police custody till January 29.
The police sought further custody of Fakir, citing that while substantial progress has been made in the probe, the accused has to be interrogated further on crucial aspects of the case, according to a news agency PTI report.
Police seeks facial recognition
The police, represented by the public prosecutors KS Patil and Prasad Joshi, argued that the accused's facial recognition needs to be done to ascertain that he was the person seen in the CCTV footage recovered from the actor's building.
This comes after claims made by the accused man's father that the person seen in the CCTV footage was not his son and social media dissection of the surveillance camera footage, with some users claiming that the arrested man is not the same.
Also Read | 'CCTV man doesn't look like my son': Father of Saif Ali Khan's ‘attacker’ Shariful Amin Fakir
The father of the accused had alleged his son was arrested based on some similarities and was implicated in the case.
Judicial magistrate KC Rajput extended Fakir's remand till January 29, noting that further custody of the accused was necessary considering the nature of the offence and the progress done in the probe.
The police told the court that it also needs to match Fakir's footprints to the ones found Khan's residence and that the shoes Fakir wore at the time of the attack have not been recovered yet.
Police also stated that the missing part of the knife used in the crime was yet to be recovered, and the accused was not cooperating with the investigation.
The court was informed that the accused's Bangladeshi driving licence has been recovered, which confirms that he hails from the neighbouring country.
The prosecution submitted that they needed to find the person who helped Fakir make fake Aadhaar and PAN cards for staying in India in the name of Vijay Das.
Fakir's counsels, Dinesh Prajapati and Sandeep Sherkahne, opposed the police's plea and raised doubt over the credibility of the incident.
They argued that the alleged victim (Khan) had enough time but did not call the police for help.
They argued the remand of the accused was not required to recover the material, as mentioned by the police. Hence, he should be remanded to judicial custody.
