Attack on Saif Ali Khan: Bangladeshi assailant came to Mumbai to commit major robbery, say police

MUMBAI: The Bangladeshi national arrested for allegedly attacking actor Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his Bandra home last week came to the city to commit a major robbery and return to his country with the booty, the police said on Tuesday.

The police also learned that Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammed Rohilla Amin Fakir, 30, entered the Satguru Sharan building in Bandra West, where Khan and his family live in a duplex apartment, via an open door in the basement parking lot that leads to the lobby.

After entering India illegally in August and then eventually reaching Mumbai, Shariful met labour contractor Amit Pandey, through whom he got odd jobs in the hospitality sector. During one of their interactions, Pandey told Shariful that several film personalities and affluent people live in Bandra West, officials said. That’s when Shariful decided to do a recce of Satguru Sharan. However, the police have still not confirmed whether Shariful knew that Khan lived in Satguru Sharan and in the very apartment that he broke into on January 16.

The police took Shariful to Satguru Sharan around 4 am on Tuesday to recreate the crime scene and understand how he entered the building. Shariful allegedly told the police that during his two-day recce, he noticed that the gate leading to the building lobby from the basement parking lot remains open. Fakir showed the police how he entered the building by scaling the boundary wall, before going to the basement and using the open door to enter the lobby, officials said.

A police officer who participated in the crime scene recreation said that after reaching the 11th floor, where Khan’s flat is located, the accused reached the duct area and entered it after removing a mosquito net that was used to keep it closed. He then entered the gallery and found the outer door of Khan’s three-year-old son Jehangir’s bathroom open. He then entered the bedroom using the bathroom door.

Later, the police also took Shariful to a garden near the building where he had slept after the attack, and then to the Bandra railway station, from where he had taken a train to Dadar. He was then taken back to the Bandra police station for further interrogation. It is still not clear why the accused, after grievously injuring Saif Ali Khan, continued to roam around the vicinity of the building for the next six hours, as first reported by HT.

Shariful allegedly told the police that he stabbed Khan in his back multiple times to free himself from his tight grip, and after the actor kept asking his staff to bring a sword, an official said. After Khan was injured in the attack, the family members and staff managed to lock Shariful in Jehangir’s bedroom and went to the upper floor of the duplex apartment. However, the accused managed to flee via the same route he had taken to enter the flat and the building, the police said.

Saif Ali Khan discharged

Meanwhile, Khan was discharged from Lilavati Hospital on Tuesday, five days after the murderous attack. The 54-year-old had undergone a five-and-a-half-hour surgery on January 16 to remove a part of a knife that had got lodged into his spine. Khan had received six stab wounds, two of which were deep. On January 17, doctors had said that the actor was recovering well and could be discharged soon.

After stepping out of Lilavati Hospital on Tuesday, Khan went straight to his home in Satguru Sharan. After reaching the building, he was seen waving at the media and fans, clad in a white shirt and blue jeans with a cast on his left hand.

With inputs from agencies.