Cops hunting for knife's missing third piece, attacker's clothes

Cops say he is a Bangladeshi national who worked in pubs and changed his name to 'Bijoy Das'

- Megha Sood

MUMBAI: A UPI payment for an omelette, a call to a friend, a call from his former employer, and a ton of CCTV footage has led to the arrest of the intruder suspected of stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan in his Bandra home early on Thursday.

The suspect, an unemployed 30-year-old, was picked up early on Sunday while he was asleep in mangroves near Kasarvadavali in Thane. He was arrested in a joint operation of the Mumbai and Thane police, who had dispatched a team of 100 policemen to nab him.

"We have arrested Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammed Rohilla Amin Fakir, 30, alias Bijoy Das, who hails from Jhalakathi district in Bangladesh," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dixit Gedam.

Shariful told police he had learnt that the locality where Saif lived had many wealthy residents, and he had conducted a reconnaissance of the area many times before he committed the home invasion, intending to steal. Shariful also claimed he had no idea he had entered the home of the Bollywood A-lister and learnt he had attacked Saif only later.

Initial clues Police said their search for Saif's assailant began with CCTV footage from a camera that captured him as he left via the fire escape in Saif's building. Then, he was identified in CCTV footage near the National College bus stand on Linking Road, at Bandra station, boarding a local train, at Dadar station, and even making a purchase at a mobile phone shop in Dadar.

"After that, the trail disappeared but we picked it up again, when we discovered the suspect had walked towards Worli. We found CCTV footage showing he had paid an omelette seller via UPI. That's how we got his cell number," said a police officer.