Police reported on Sunday the arrest of a Bangladeshi national accused of stabbing Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan at his residence in Mumbai. The senior police official, speaking after the arrest, noted that preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, did not realize he had entered Khan’s home and intended to commit theft.
Saif Ali Khan sustained six stab wounds, including one to his neck, at his apartment in the upscale Bandra West neighbourhood early Thursday morning.
Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla, 30, was apprehended at Hiranandani Estate on Ghodbandar Road in the neighbouring Thane district. Authorities revealed that he entered India illegally and had resided in Mumbai for the past four months under the assumed name Bijoy Das.
Rohilla, unmarried and formerly employed at a housekeeping agency, had been jobless for several months and lived in a rented house with friends in Mumbai’s Worli area.
The attack on Khan was at home with his family, his wife, fellow actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, and their two sons, four-year-old Jeh and eight-year-old Taimur—in their 12-floor Satguru Sharan apartment in Bandra. During the attack, Eliyama Philip, a nurse caring for Jeh, and another staff member also sustained injuries.
Read: Saif Ali Khan Stabbing Suspect Detained in Madhya Pradesh
Khan was urgently taken to Lilavati Hospital by autorickshaw and underwent a five-hour surgery to remove a 2.5-inch piece of the blade from his spine. He is reportedly recovering well, according to his doctors, who updated him on Friday.
In response to the attack, Mumbai Police deployed approximately 30 teams and utilized CCTV footage from the building to track down and arrest the accused.
