Mumbai: Observing that a “conspiracy of international level” was not impossible as the individual arrested in actor Saif Ali Khan’s stabbing case was a Bangladeshi national, a holiday court in Bandra sent Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammed Rohilla Amin Fakir to five days in police custody on Sunday.
The police, who arrested Shariful early on Sunday from Thane, produced him before a packed courtroom in the afternoon.
The public prosecutor said the police were yet to recover a part of the weapon used for the attack on the actor at his residence on Jan 16. “The accused had stabbed the actor with a knife which broke into three parts. A part of the blade was recovered from the actor’s house, while another was found from the actor’s body. The third portion remains with the accused and needs to be recovered,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor added that burglary might not have been the sole motive in the incident.
“The police need to probe if the stabbing was intentional. The accused was well prepared with a weapon. He knew in which area do celebrities live and the security arrangements. He has also demanded money at the actor’s residence. The police need to probe how long was he here, where did he purchase the knife from and where has he hidden the missing portion,” the prosecutor submitted to the court.
The public prosecutor said the clothes worn by Shariful at the time of the stabbing need to be recovered. “The clothes need to be examined for bloodstains, if any. The police also need to find out whether the accused had any associates who provided him with shelter or external support,” the prosecutor said.
Shariful’s lawyers, Dinesh Prajapati and Sandeep Sherkhane, argued that the arrest was illegal as no notice was served to their client and that he was being made “a scapegoat”.
Magistrate K K Patil observed that the accusations made by the police were well-founded for non-bailable offences. “As the accused has only been arrested today (Sunday), the police are justified in asking for a remand into police custody for sufficient time to investigate,” Patil said, adding that the grounds of illegality of arrest raised by the defence lawyers appeared to be without sound reason.