
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 23: The father of Shariful Islam, the man arrested in connection with the stabbing of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, has cast doubt on the authenticity of the CCTV footage used to make the arrest.
Md Ruhul Amin Fakir, the accused’s father, claimed that the person seen in the footage did not resemble his son. Fakir noted that the face of the person in the CCTV footage, widely discussed issue on social media, from the actor’s Bandra apartment did not match the appearance of his son.
“My son Shariful Fakir has been arrested. I have seen both the images closely. I know my son and the two images are completely different,” Fakir said over the phone. The CCTV footage in question was taken from the 6th floor of the building where Khan live with his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan and their two children, shows a man descending the staircase carrying a black bag and jacket.
The accused father further defended that his son had never kept his hair long, unlike the person in the video. Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was attacked at his home on January 16 and suffered multiple stab wounds. Doctors had said Khan sustained three injuries: two on his hand and one on the right side of his neck, with the most serious injury located in his spine. The doctors successfully removed the sharp object lodged in his spine and repaired the damage.
The 54-year-old was discharged from Lilavati Hospital on January 21 after undergoing surgery. Shariful Islam, 30, also known as Bijoy Das, a Bangladeshi national staying illegally in India, was arrested later in Thane for the attack.
Fakir also defended his son, saying he entered India legally with proper work documents and questioned how his son was arrested for the alleged attack. “My son has never even wrestled in his life. How can he attack someone?” he questioned.
He also said that Shariful entered India in March last year after his “family faced atrocity under Sheikh Hasina’s regime.” “We are people involved in politics, and we were part of the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) in Bangladesh. My two sons and I endured a lot of oppression. In January 2024, after Sheikh Hasina became even more powerful (following her re-election), it became difficult for us to stay in our village in Jholokathi. It was then that Shariful asked me, ‘abba, what will we do now?” accused’s father said.
Meanwhile, amidst ongoing probe into the attack on Saif Ali Khan, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday recovered in Bandra another part of the knife used in the crime, according to reports. This was the third part of the knife that was missing.
The police also said the guards at Saif Ali Khan’s home were sleeping when the attacker entered the actor’s residence. Cops said the accused scaled the compound wall of the actor’s house in Mumbai’s Bandra and found the two security guards sleeping.