Mumbai, Jan 20: Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, the 30-year-old Bangladeshi national arrested for allegedly stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan during a failed robbery attempt, told police that he was a wrestler in Bangladesh before coming to India, sources said.

Shehzad revealed during interrogation that he used to compete in the lower weight category at district-level and national-level wrestling championships in Bangladesh.

His wrestling background, he claimed, enabled him to attack Saif Ali Khan without sustaining any injuries himself, police sources added.

After committing the crime, Shehzad reportedly changed his clothes three to four times to evade detection. He moved across multiple locations, travelling from Bandra to Dadar, Worli, Andheri, and finally to Thane.

On the day after the incident, he returned to Dadar, continuously roaming around, making it difficult for the police to track him down.

Shehzad arrived in Mumbai in September and initially worked at a hotel through a housekeeping company. The contract of the company was also raided as part of the investigation.

Meanwhile, police have transferred Shehzad from Santacruz Police Station to Bandra Police Station for further questioning and investigation. They revealed that Shehzad had scoped out several Bollywood celebrities’ residences before targeting Saif Ali Khan’s house.

He admitted to surveying Saif Ali Khan’s 12-storey building, Satguru Sharan, and Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat, among other high-profile residences.

Using a ladder to inspect entry points, Shehzad abandoned plans to target Mannat due to its tight security and high walls.

On January 15, Shehzad conducted a detailed recce of Saif Ali Khan’s house and identified an easy entry point. He returned later that night and entered the building at 1:37 a.m. on January 16.

However, his robbery attempt failed, and in a panic, he attacked Saif Ali Khan before fleeing without stealing anything.

Desperate to return to Bangladesh after being unemployed for a month, Shehzad sought financial help but was unable to secure funds. Inspired by an auto driver’s comments about celebrity homes in Bandra, he decided to rob a high-profile residence to finance his return.

Despite a clear opportunity to steal cash and jewellery, Shehzad fled in fear of being caught. He then closely monitored the investigation through news channels, saving screenshots of suspects shown by the media, which were later recovered from his mobile phone.

Mumbai Police initially detained two suspects who resembled Shehzad but continued their hunt. He was eventually arrested on Sunday morning near Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali, Thane, about 35 kilometres from Saif Ali Khan’s residence.

He had been hiding in a labour camp in a forested area and attempted to evade arrest by hiding in bushes but was captured after a seven-hour search operation.

According to DCP Dixit Gedam, Shehzad lacked Indian identification documents, and evidence confirmed his Bangladeshi nationality. Investigators also found that he had been living in Mumbai for four months under the alias Bijoy Das.

Upon his arrest, Shehzad confessed to the crime, saying, “Haan, maine hi kiya hai” (Yes, I did it). He has been remanded to police custody for five days, during which investigators plan to recreate the crime scene at Saif Ali Khan’s residence.

The incident has raised concerns about the security of high-profile residences in Mumbai. Police continue their probe to uncover more details about Shehzad’s activities and background.

Mumbai, Jan 20: The Bangladeshi national, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, arrested on charges of stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his house, was keeping a very close watch on the police investigation through news and had kept screenshots of the suspects, being shown by the media, in his mobile phone.

The Mumbai Police said the photographs of the suspects were seized from the mobile phone of Shehzad. The suspects were those men who were interrogated by the police while on the lookout for the main culprit.

The media was continuously giving updates on the case and showing the photographs of suspects being picked up by the police.

Shehzad had saved the photographs of the two suspects on his mobile phone. Screenshots of the suspects being shown on news channels were found in the phone’s memory.

The Mumbai Police had picked up two suspects earlier and had questioned them. Both these had a resemblance to the main accused.

The accused was keeping a very close watch on the activities of the police and was getting information about the activities of the police through the news, said officials.

Meanwhile, sources in the Mumbai Police said they will likely recreate the crime scene at the Bandra home of Saif Ali Khan, where the crime incident took place.

The accused, Shehzad, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man, was arrested on Sunday morning from Thane city.

A court remanded the accused in police custody for five days. According to the official, police will likely take Shehzad to Khan’s home in the ‘Satguru Sharan’ building during these five days to recreate the crime scene as part of the investigation.

The accused has reportedly confessed to the crime, saying “haan, maine hi kiya hai (yes, I did it)”.

According to police sources, Shehzad was arrested near Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali in Thane, about 35 km from Khan’s house in Mumbai’s Bandra area on Sunday. The breakthrough came after over 70 hours of an intense manhunt that was launched following the attack during a failed burglary bid in the early hours of Thursday.

The police traced Shehzad to a labour camp in a forested area in Thane. As soon as Shehzad got a whiff that policemen were looking for him in Thane, the accused hid himself in the bushes, a source said. “He was arrested after a search operation that lasted for seven hours in the city,” the source added.

On Sunday, DCP Dixit Gedam told the media that Shehzad is a Bangladeshi national. “He does not have any Indian documents. Some things found in his possession show that he is a Bangladeshi national,” Gedam said. Police also said the accused had been living in Mumbai for the past four months and had changed his name to Bijoy Das.

New Delhi, Jan 18: Even as red-faced Mumbai Police was unable to apprehend the intruder who entered Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan’s upscale Bandra residence in Mumbai on January 16, the cops on Saturday got some footage of the attacker buying headphones after the crime. The actor’s wife actress Kareena Kapoor Khan also gave a statement to the Bandra police.

According to media reports quoting sources, the reportedly delayed response by Bandra police to the attack on the actor has drawn criticism from senior officials of the Crime Branch, who allege that immediate action could have led to the swift apprehension of the suspect. Sources said the intruder escaped due to a lack of coordination and timely alerts to other police units, including the Crime Branch and the Government Railway Police (GRP).

In a separate development, it was revealed that after the attack on Saif Ali Khan, the assailant travelled to the Dadar area in Mumbai, specifically to the Kaptan Khana locality, where he purchased a pair of headphones from a mobile shop.

The crime branch investigators, led by several officers, visited the shop and checked the CCTV footage for any evidence. The shopkeeper was questioned but stated that he had no knowledge of the attack or why the crime branch had arrived at his store.

The police also inspected the shop’s CCTV footage as part of their ongoing investigation. The investigation took a new turn when the police located the auto-rickshaw driver, Bhajan Singh Rana, who had transported Saif to Lilavati Hospital after the attack.

The Bandra police station has now recorded the rickshaw driver’s statement as part of their enquiry into the events surrounding the attack.

Despite the efforts of over 30 police teams, the attacker remains at large, and authorities are actively pursuing leads to apprehend him.

Police have launched a manhunt, analyzing CCTV footage and witness statements to track down the assailant. The motive behind the attack is still unclear, but authorities are exploring all possible angles, including personal and professional connections to the actor.

Meanwhile, in her statement to the cops, Kareena described how she and her family reacted during the frightening ordeal and explained that as soon as the attack began, she sent the children and other women in the household to the 12th floor for safety.

Saif Ali Khan, in a heroic attempt to protect them, intervened when the attacker tried to reach the family members, preventing him from getting closer.

Kareena also informed the police that the attacker did not steal anything from their home, but was extremely aggressive. She mentioned that the attacker repeatedly tried to harm Saif, who bravely attempted to defend himself. After the attack, Kareena, shaken and distressed, was taken to her sister Karisma Kapoor’s house for safety.

The actor was repeatedly stabbed during the assault, suffering multiple injuries, including wounds to his neck and close to his spine. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in an autorickshaw by his elder son from a first marriage and underwent emergency surgery.

Doctors at the hospital have stated that Saif Ali Khan is recovering well and is expected to be discharged in two to three days.