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“Yes, I Did It”: Saif Ali Khan’s Attacker Confesses To Crime

"Yes, I Did It": Saif Ali Khan's Attacker Confesses To Crime

The man accused of stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan has confessed to entering the actor’s house and committing the crime. The suspect, identified as Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, was apprehended in Thane on Sunday. The incident occurred at the actor’s residence in Satguru Sharan Building in Bandra West, in the early hours of January 16.

According to reports the accused is a 30-year-old Bangladeshi national. After being caught, when a senior officer asked Shehzad if he was the one who had attacked Mr. Khan, the accused said “Haan, Maine hi kiya hai”. The accused has been remanded to five days in police custody by a court. He is currently in the lockup of Bandra Police Station.

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Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad was arrested near Hiranandani Estate in Thane. Hiranandani is about 35 kilometers from the actor’s house in Mumbai’s Bandra area. The arrest comes after over 70 hours of rigorous manhunt launched by the Mumbai police. The attacker successfully evaded over 35 teams of Mumbai police for 3 days.

Who is Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad?

Shehzad hails from Jhalokathi, also called Jhalakathi, a district in southern Bangladesh’s Barisal division. He has been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 311 (robbery or dacoity with the intent to cause grievous hurt or death), 331(4) (house-breaking), and other offenses as well as provisions of the Passport Act.

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The accused worked as a maid at Ricky’s Bar in Thane. Reports suggest that he is a resident of West Bengal. The accused is known by multiple aliases, including Bijoy Das, Vijay Das, Mohammad Illyas, and BJ. Authorities are also probing whether the man is an Indian national or a Bangladeshi using a fake Indian identity.

According to the police, Shehzad had studied up to Std 12th and had come to Mumbai from Bangladesh in search of better job opportunities. However, being unemployed and in urgent need of Rs 50,000 to return to Bangladesh, he decided to commit theft.

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How did the Police trace the attacker?

In order to track down the accused, the Mumbai police reviewed footage from the start of the new year to January 18. According to reports, A facial recognition security camera at Bandra railway station is responsible for the first breakthrough in the case. The accused, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, was captured by the device on January 9. Subsequently, he was seen in the DN Nagar area of Andheri, where a biker was captured on another CCTV camera dropping him off.

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Further CCTV analysis showed that Shehzad allegedly entered Saif’s residence at 1.33 am on January 16 and left the premises at 2.33 am. Later, at 7.05 am, he was spotted near Bandra station. He then traveled to Dadar station, where he was seen purchasing headphones from a mobile shop in the Kabutarkhana area around 9.05 am. From there, he went to Worli, where he was seen having breakfast at a food stall at 10.33 am, making the payment via Google Pay.

According to reports the police used the Google Pay transaction details to trace the attacker’s movements further. This eventually led them to a location near some bushes in the Hiranandani area of Thane, where the accused was apprehended around 2 am on January 19.

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The police traced Shehzad to a labour camp in a forested area near a metro construction site at the Hiranandani Estate. The arrest was made based on the information provided by a labour contractor. Following the arrest, the accused was brought to Bandra Police Station for further questioning. He was presented before a court for police remand on Sunday.

Amid heavy police presence, Shehzad was produced before a metropolitan magistrate court in Bandra in the afternoon. But the seriousness of the courtroom in Bandra momentarily vanished when two lawyers jostled to represent the accused.

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However, to defuse the situation, the magistrate suggested to both the competing lawyers to represent Shehzad. The magistrate said “You both can appear”, bringing back the focus on the remand proceedings. To which both the lawyers agreed.

The Mumbai Police held a press conference. on Sunday to share additional details about the arrest and the ongoing investigation. According to the police, Shehzad got a whiff that a team of 100 policemen had reached Thane and were looking for him. The accused then hid himself in the bushes in a forested area.

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Senior police officer Dixit Gedam told the media that Shehzad is a Bangladeshi national. Mr Gedam said “He does not have any Indian documents. Some things found in his possession show that he is a Bangladeshi national”.

Police also said the accused has been living in Mumbai for the past four months and had changed his name to Bijoy Das. Meanwhile, his lawyer claimed the police had no proof that he was a Bangladeshi national.

Defense lawyer Sandeep D. Sherkhane said the case has been hyped because of the presence of Mr Khan. Mr Sherkhane also contended that his client has been residing in the country for several years and has vital documents (for staying in the country) and that his family is also living in India.

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According to reports the Mumbai police managed to lift the attacker’s fingerprints from the crime scene, the bathroom window from where he entered and exited, the duct shaft, and the ladder he used to enter the building from the duct, among other places. The police believe they are one of the strongest pieces of evidence they have against the accused to secure a conviction in the case.

The Mumbai police ran these fingerprint samples through the state and national databases, but they didn’t match anyone. A police officer said, “We should have then realized that the robber could be from outside and probably a Bangladeshi national, as a huge number of people illegally enter the country from there”.

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According to police findings, the accused entered the duct area of the building and used a pipe to climb up to the 12th floor. He gained access to the apartment through a bathroom window. The attacker then entered the bedroom of Saif’s younger son, Jehangir (Jeh). The house help first spotted him.

The commotion alerted other members of the household, including Saif and his wife, actress Kareena Kapoor Khan. Saif confronted the intruder, resulting in a scuffle during which he sustained the injuries.

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After the attack, the accused slept at a bus stop near Patwardhan Garden in Bandra West till 7 am on January 16. Later he boarded a train and reached Worli in central Mumbai. The official said he climbed a pipe in the shaft from the sixth floor to the 12 floor.

The police said the accused didn’t know that he had entered Saif Ali Khan’s house. He realized the person he attacked was a Bollywood star after watching television news. According to the news agency PTI, Shehzad will be taken to Saif’s home at ‘Satguru Sharan’ building in the next five days to recreate the crime scene as part of their investigation.

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Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, in her statement to the police, recalled the attack on her husband. “The attacker was aggressive. I saw him attack Saif repeatedly…Our priority was to take Saif to the hospital,” she said.

Meanwhile, another debate has ignited over the excessive healthcare costs and insurance policies in India. The medical bill for actor Saif Ali Khan’s treatment at Lilavati Hospital costs ₹35.95 lakh. Reports suggest that the actor’s insurance provider sanctioned ₹25 lahks for cashless treatment, the remaining claim awaits final billing.

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Reacting to this, a Mumbai-based cardiac surgeon Prashant Mishra questioned the billing practices of premium hospitals. In a post on X, he wrote, “Why such exorbitant charges for a stab injury requiring 5-7 days of hospitalization? Most hospitals have fixed package systems?”.

Mishra further said the hospital seemed to operate on an open billing system, leading to inflated costs. An open billing system allows costs to vary significantly based on services rendered. While this provides flexibility, it often leads to unpredictability in medical expenses.

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Fixed package systems are common in many hospitals in India. The fixed package system offers standardized charges and greater transparency. The Doctor pointed out disparities in coverage, ‘For small hospitals and common man, the insurer will never sanction more than Rs 5 lakh for such treatment’

Saif Ali Khan Recovering

Saif Ali Khan who was expected to be discharged today as per the leaked insurance documents is still under medical supervision. The actor is recovering at a good pace but has been advised to rest by the doctors. As of now, only the family is allowed to meet Saif at the hospital.

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