A man believed to be a Bangladeshi national has been arrested for stabbing Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, police said, marking the first breakthrough in investigation three days after the attack in India’s financial capital Mumbai.
Mr Khan, 54, was stabbed six times and suffered injuries after the attacker entered his house in an upscale neighbourhood in Mumbai on early Thursday morning.
The man, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, is the main suspect in the attack, Dixit Gedam, deputy commissioner of police, told a press conference on Sunday.
Mr Gedam claimed documents seized from Mr Shehzad indicate he is a Bangladeshi national who entered India illegally and took a new name to work with a housekeeping agency.
“Prima facie the accused is a Bangladeshi and after entering India illegally he changed his name. He was using Vijay Das as his current name,” the police officer said.
“He came to Mumbai 5-6 months ago. He stayed in Mumbai for a few days and then in the vicinity of Mumbai. The accused used to work in a housekeeping agency.”
Saif Ali Khan with wife Kareena Kapoor Khan in 2022 (Getty Images for The Red Sea Int)
The arrest is the first major breakthrough in the investigation into the attack on one of India’s most bankable stars, who comes from an erstwhile royal family.
The attack on the film star, suspected to have occurred during a burglary, has shocked the film industry and Mumbai’s residents, with many calling for better policing and security.
The police will seek custody of the suspect for further investigation, the officer said.
Mr Shehzad, who evaded arrest for more than 70 hours despite being caught on CCTV cameras, was detained late on Saturday while sleeping in a dense mangrove in the Thane area, The Indian Express newspaper reported, citing police sources.
Residential building that houses the home of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan (AP)
Police teams were about to leave the area after searching a labour camp when they decided to do one last check with a flashlight.
The man began running after he saw police approaching him. He was chased by a team of nearly 100 police personnel and nabbed.
“He told us that after he saw his images flashed on TV and YouTube, he got scared and fled to Thane as he had worked there in a bar and knew the area. When he saw cops there, he fled again and switched off his mobile phone,” an officer said, according to the newspaper.
Son of cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actor Sharmila Tagore, Mr Khan is the scion of the erstwhile rulers of the former princely state of Pataudi in the state of Haryana.
Since his Bollywood debut in 1993, he has starred in over 60 films, including the critically acclaimed Omkara, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello.
The actor is married to Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, 44. They have two sons Taimur, 7, and Jeh, 3, who were in the house at the time of the incident but were unhurt.