Saif Ali Khan attacked: Intruder's lawyer rejects police's 'Bangladeshi' claim

The lawyer of the intruder who allegedly stabbed Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has claimed that the Mumbai police in India have no evidence that proves that he is an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.

He also rejected the police's claim that the alleged intruder recently settled in the capital city of Maharashtra, saying he has been living here for over seven years.

The police on Saturday night arrested Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad for allegedly sneaking into Saif Ali Khan's house and stab the actor several times.

His advocate Sandeep Shekhane denied the police claims.

"Police custody (of the accused) for 5 days has been granted. The court has asked the police to submit a report within 5 days. The police have no proof that he is a Bangladeshi. They said that he came here 6 months ago, which is a wrong statement. He has been living here for more than 7 years. His family is in Mumbai… This is a clear-cut violation of 43A, No proper investigation has been done," Shekhane told ANI.

Another advocate Dinesh Prajapati, representing the accused, said the grounds given by the police for seeking his police custody are "not sufficient".

"The police demanded police custody and the grounds given by the police for the police custody are not sufficient...We have given in his (accused) defence that nothing has been recovered from him (Accused Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad)...They (Police) have not produced any document proving that he is a Bangladeshi national...The court has granted his 5-day police custody," Prajapati told ANI.

Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said the accused had confessed to his crimes. He added that the accused had no idea that he was entering the house of Saif Ali Khan.

Police claimed the accused is a native of Bangladesh's Jhalokati district. The accused was about to flee to his native village when he was detained at Hiranandani Estate in Thane, they added.

What happened on Thursday night?

According to Aleyamma Philip, Saif Ali Khan's son's nanny, the incident occurred around 2:00 AM on January 16. The man entered the house and demanded ₹1 crore after brandishing a long knife.

Hearing the commotion, Saif Ali Khan approached the room and confronted the intruder. He was stabbed multiple times.

Saif Ali Khan was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital. The doctors removed a 2.5-inch-long blade. He is now out of danger and will be discharged in a few days.