Guwahati: The attacker of actor Saif Ali Khan, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, a Bangladesh national, entered India through Meghalaya seven months ago.
According to a news agency, Mumbai Police officers involved in the interrogation of the accused, and revealed that he initially stayed in West Bengal for a few weeks before moving to Mumbai in search of work.
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Police say Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, 30, crossed the Dawki River at the India-Bangladesh border into Meghalaya and illegally entered the country.
He then adopted the name Bijoy Das and began living in India.
Shehzad, originally from Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh, reportedly used a local resident’s Aadhaar card to obtain a mobile SIM card while in West Bengal, which was registered under the name Khukumoni Jahangir Sekha.
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After moving to Mumbai, he sought employment in places that did not require documentation.
The report said a labour contractor named Amit Pandey helped Shehzad with getting housekeeping work in pubs and hotels in the Thane and Worli area.
Initially, Shehzad told the police that he was from Kolkata. However, upon reviewing his call records, officials discovered multiple outgoing calls to numbers in Bangladesh. They also found that Shehzad had used mobile apps to contact his family in Bangladesh.
The police then asked the accused to call a family member. “He called his brother and requested him to send his school leaving certificate. His brother sent the certificate to Shehzad’s mobile phone. This document serves as strong evidence confirming that he is a Bangladeshi national,” the official added.
Before attempting to break into the Satguru Sharan building, which houses Saif Ali Khan’s 12th-floor apartment in Bandra, the accused had tried to enter a nearby bungalow belonging to another Bollywood superstar, the report said. However, he was unsuccessful there as dogs began barking at him.
Khan suffered six stab wounds, and doctors later removed a 2.5-inch piece of broken knife from his spine.
Medical experts noted that a 2mm deeper cut could have caused severe damage. The actor, discharged from the hospital on Tuesday.
Shehzad, during interrogation, claimed that he stabbed Khan in self-defense when the actor grabbed him.
He also admitted to hiding in the building’s garden for two hours before fleeing. Khan’s wife, Kareena Kapoor Khan, recalled seeing the attacker stab her husband and described him as aggressive.
A nurse caring for their son, Jeh, who encountered the intruder, stated that he demanded Rs 1 crore.
The police, working with multiple teams and analyzing CCTV footage, tracked Shehzad down after more than 70 hours of searching.
He was arrested near Hiranandani Estate in Thane, about 35 km from Khan’s home, on Sunday and remanded in police custody for five days.