 "Shehzad was arrested nearly 70 hours after the attack on Khan at his Bandra residence. Image courtesy: X/@AskAnshul")
The main suspect in the stabbing case involving Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has been arrested in Thane West, near Mumbai.
The accused, identified as Shariful Islam Shehzad, had entered India illegally and was living under the alias Bijoy Das.
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Shehzad was arrested nearly 70 hours after the attack on Khan at his Bandra residence. A search operation involving around 100 police officers was carried out after authorities received information about his hideout.
How did the police track him down? Let’s take a look:
How Saif Ali Khan’s attacker was found
During the investigation, police teams reviewed multiple CCTV recordings and found footage of Shehzad getting off a bike at Bandra railway station on January 9.
Officers noted the bike’s registration number and identified Shehzad using facial recognition technology, sources told India Today. The investigation further revealed that the accused had been spotted outside Dadar railway station on three occasions and had also visited Worli Koliwada.
It was also found that Shehzad had contacted a labour contractor in the area, as per the report.
This breakthrough led police to track him to a shop outside Dadar station, where he bought a mobile cover. “But he paid in cash. But he made a cash payment here. After that, he moved to Kabutarkhana and then to Worli,” a source told The Indian Express.
While checking CCTV footage in Worli, officers reportedly spotted Shehzad near a stall close to Century Mill. A source told IE that the footage appeared to show him speaking twice with the stall owner. Crime Branch teams later dispatched and identified the stall owner as Naveen Ekka, a resident of Koliwada.
According to the report, the police believed the suspect might have known Ekka, leading seven teams to search the Worli-Koliwada area and show his picture to vendors.
The police found Ekka’s address at Jaihind Mitra Mandal in Janata Colony, where he lived with a few other workers. However, the house was locked when they arrived.
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Ekka was later tracked down, and he told police that the suspect had paid for paratha and water using UPI. The mobile number linked to the payment became a crucial lead, leading the police to a labour camp in Kasarvadavali, Thane, and a contractor named Amit Pandey, who had hired Shehzad a few months earlier.
The search then focused on the mangroves near the camp. A team led by DCP Navnath Dhawale found someone lying on the ground after scanning the area with torches. “As an officer moved closer, the person got up and started running,” IE quoted sources as saying.
The police did not find any Indian documents on Shehzad but collected evidence showing he is a Bangladeshi national who entered India illegally.
During questioning, Shehzad admitted he saw his pictures on TV after the incident and fled to Thane. He turned off his phone and hid near a labour camp.
Who is Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad?
Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad , 30, was taken into custody from Hiranandani Estate on Ghodbandar Road in Thane district. Authorities said that he had entered India illegally and had been staying in Mumbai for the last four months.
After crossing into India, he assumed the name Bijoy Das. Shehzad had previously worked for a housekeeping agency but had been out of work for several months.
He shared a rented apartment with friends in the Worli area of Mumbai.
Police confirmed that Shehzad did not have any valid Indian identification. As per The Indian Express, police said that the motive behind the crime was theft. Investigators stated that Shehzad had no idea he had broken into Saif Ali Khan’s house during his attempt to steal.
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The Saif Ali Khan stabbing incident
The attack on Saif Ali Khan has left the nation in shock, raising concerns about the law and order situation in Mumbai. The Opposition leaders as well as the film industry have questioned the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on public safety, stating that if a celebrity can face such an attack, the safety of ordinary citizens is at stake.
Responding to the incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Mumbai’s law and order situation cannot be judged based on a few incidents and added that the city remains the safest place.
“Mumbai is the safest place, and there is no doubt about it. Just based on one or two incidents, it won’t be right to say that Mumbai is unsafe. At the same time, it is also correct that if any such kind of incident happens, we should take it seriously and act accordingly and keep Mumbai safe,” he stated.
House staff member Eliyamma Philip was the first to encounter the intruder and sustained hand injuries during the struggle. Hearing her, Khan intervened but was stabbed several times.
On the day of the attack, the intruder reportedly reached Khan’s 12th-floor apartment in the high-end Satguru Sharan building in Bandra West by using the staircase.
Meanwhile, hospital authorities have reported that Khan is recovering well. He has been shifted from the ICU to a regular room following a successful surgery to remove a 2.5-inch blade.
With inputs from agencies