Attack on Saif Ali Khan: 15 reasons why Mumbai police sought 14-day custody of Bangladeshi man

The remand application, seeking the accused’s custody for 14 days, was filed in a Bandra court. Granting custody for five days, Magistrate K K Patil said, “I find that there are serious allegations against the accused for non-bailable offences. And at this stage, it can be said that the angle of international conspiracy is not impossible, hence custodial interrogation is needed.”

The police application lists 15 questions and points that, police say, need to be investigated in the “serious crime” of “breaking into the residence of the famous actor” and “intending to rob him, and attacking him with a sharp object in front of family members and other house staff”. According to the application, these include:

* Custodial interrogation is necessary to determine if anyone instigated the accused to commit this crime.

* Information needs to be obtained from the accused about who provided him with Khan’s residential address, and arrest those involved.

* The clothes worn by the accused, which police say he later hid, needs to be recovered.

* The accused was living under the alias “Vijay Das in India” — investigations are needed to understand why he chose this name.

* Investigators need to recover remaining parts or fragments of the weapon used in the crime, which the accused may have hidden.

* Investigators need to determine the location from where the accused obtained the sharp weapon used in the crime and recover it.

* The accused entered India illegally from Bangladesh without a passport or visa and has been residing in India unlawfully. Custodial interrogation is required to determine the route he took from Bangladesh to India and how he entered the country.

* Investigators want to determine if anyone assisted the accused in illegally entering India from Bangladesh and his unlawful stay.

* Investigators also aim to determine if anyone provided shelter to the accused during his illegal stay in India.

* On what date did the accused enter India and what is the duration of his illegal stay?

* Did the accused have any accomplice in committing the crime?

* What was the accused’s “exact motive” for committing the crime; was it burglary as preliminary investigations suggest?

* Did the accused have a prior criminal record in India, Bangladesh, or any other country?

* Why did the accused flee Bangladesh and change his identity to hide from authorities in India?

* Was the accused in contact with others who illegally entered India from Bangladesh, Pakistan, or other countries?

On Sunday afternoon, the accused, wearing a blue shirt, was produced before the holiday court after his medical examination was conducted at the Bhabha hospital. “The accused is a Bangladeshi national and entered India illegally,” Inspector Sudarshan Gaikwad, the investigation officer from the Bandra police station, told the court.

“The accused is (also) hiding details about the third part of the knife used in the crime. One part was recovered by doctors from Saif’s neck, one from the crime scene and third one he has dumped somewhere. We need to seize the same,” Gaikwad said.

Public prosecutor Kishore Patil said the investigation is at a “primary stage”, and that custody is crucial to find the motive behind the attack.

Defence lawyer Sandeep Sherkhane told the court that his client has been residing in India for several years, and has documents to support the claim. “He has been made a scapegoat by the police. Just because the case is related to Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, the police have hyped it. If the police wish to send any possible evidence to the forensic lab… custody is not required,” he told the court.

Sherkhane also contended that the arrest was “illegal because no prior notice was served”.