Bangladesh national held for attack on Saif Ali Khan: Mumbai Police

According to officials, the accused, originally Mohammad Shariful Islam from Bangladesh, changed his name to Vijay Das after entering India. He came to Mumbai about six months back and was working at a hotel in Thane, but he left that job about a fortnight back and was looking for work, said sources.

Gedam said the accused doesn’t have any prior criminal record and was not aware that he was breaking into Khan’s residence. Police sources said the accused is suspected to have entered the house to commit robbery, but panicked after a confrontation with Khan and escaped without stealing anything.

The accused was nabbed at around 2 am on Sunday, and formally arrested in the afternoon, police said. He was produced before a Mumbai court, which sent him to police custody for five days.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Dixit Gedam addressing the media in Mumbai. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

According to police sources, the breakthrough in the case came from CCTV footage – the accused was purportedly seen buying a cellphone cover from a shop in Dadar, and some food from a stall in Worli where he made an online payment, following which his cellphone number was traced.

The cellphone number was then tracked, leading the police to a labour camp at Thane. The contractor who had hired him a few months back was identified and questioned.

A manhunt was launched for the accused in Thane area on Saturday, with nearly 20 teams with over 100 police personnel, including from the Crime Branch, being deployed. With the accused switching off his cellphone at about 10 pm on Saturday, the police teams started knocking on each door, but failed to track him.

Saif Ali Khan Attack case: The attacker, identified as Mohammad Islam, was arrested from Thane.

As the search widened, a team led by DCP Navnath Dhawale reportedly spotted the accused hiding in the mangroves near the camp in Thane. He was nabbed and later placed under arrest.

Prior to this arrest, a 31-year-old man was detained from a train in Durg, Chhattisgarh, as a “suspect” on Saturday. On Friday, another man was detained by the police in Bandra and released after questioning.

Khan was seriously injured in the break-in at his duplex residence on Thursday morning, between 2 am and 2.30 am, after he was stabbed multiple times during a scuffle with the intruder. The actor was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital, where he underwent surgery. Doctors have said he is stable and out of danger.