Saif Ali Khan stabbing case: Court sends accused to 14-day judicial custody

A court in Mumbai on Wednesday refused the city police custody of the Bangladeshi national arrested for allegedly stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan, and sent him in judicial remand noting that there was no fresh ground to extend his police custody.

The Bandra magistrate's court after perusing the application submitted by the police seeking further custody said no fresh ground was made out. "Further police custody, at least at this stage, is not justified," said Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Komal Singh Rajput.

Citing the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions, the court told the investigating officer that if there was any new development, police can again seek the accused's custody for the remaining period within permissible time. As per the new criminal laws, police can seek a person's custody for up to 15 days. It can be at a stretch, or in parts during a period of 40 or 60 days from the arrest, depending on the severity of the offense.

The accused -- Mohammad Shariful Islam (30) -- was produced before the Bandra magistrate court at the end of his police custody. Islam allegedly broke into the 12th-storey residence of actor couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan in the upscale Bandra area with the intention of robbery in the early hours of January 16. 

When confronted by Saif (54), the accused allegedly stabbed him multiple times and fled. He was arrested on January 19 from neighbouring Thane. Islam's father in Bangladesh, however, claimed that the man seen in the CCTV footage of the staircase of the actor's building was not his son, who he said has been falsely implicated.

On Wednesday, the police pleaded for extension of the accused's remand saying he was yet to come clean about the persons who helped him enter India illegally, and was providing incomplete information about his financial transactions. A police team was sent to conduct investigation in Kolkata and statements of relevant individuals were recorded, the prosecution told the court.

The CCTV footage of Saif Ali Khan's building and photograph of the accused have been sent to a forensic science laboratory for running facial recognition tests, it said. The clothes worn by the accused while committing the crime and during his escape, the weapon and the tools used in the crime, a "gamcha" (towel) and a bag have been sent to the forensic laboratory for chemical analysis, the court was told. The people who helped Islam enter India from Bangladesh were yet to be traced, the police said. 

As the crime was of serious nature, it requires a thorough investigation and hence the police should be granted further remand of the accused, the application said. Defence lawyers Dinesh Prajapati and Sandeep Sherkhane opposed the plea, saying the probe relating to the accused was complete. 

The court, after hearing both the sides, noted that the record reflected that the investigation was over, and there was no fresh ground for custody. As per the police, the accused changed his name from Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad to 'Bijoy Das' after entering India.

Saif Ali Khan who underwent an emergency surgery after the knife attack was discharged from the hospital after five days.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI