Saif attack case accused in 5-day police custody; cops cite international conspiracy angle
Mumbai: A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded a man arrested in the Saif Ali Khan attack case in 5-day police custody after observing that the prosecution's contention of an international conspiracy cannot be ruled out.
Police produced the accused Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad (30) before a metropolitan magistrate court in Bandra at 1:30pm.
Police told court that the alleged attacker was a Bangladeshi national residing illegally in India and there was need to find the motive behind his act. Police also told court they needed to find out if there was an international conspiracy linked to the case.
However, defence lawyer Sandeep D Sherkhane contended his client was residing in the country for several years and has vital documents (for staying in the country) and that his family is also residing in India.
The case has been hyped because of the presence of actor Saif Ali Khan, the defence lawyer further submitted.
The police, however, sought 14-day custody stating the case was not just about a celebrity but that it involved a brutal attack.
The police also told court the investigation is at a primary stage.
Khan sustained grievous injuries in the attack, including a part of the knife blade getting embedded in his body, the investigating officer told court.
The knife broke into three parts, two of which have been found, while the third needs to be recovered from the accused, police told court.
The clothes the accused had worn at the time of the incident will have blood stains and it needs to be seized as part of the probe, police submitted.
A probe was required to find out how he entered the actor's house and the motive behind the attack, the IO said.
However, the defence lawyer said Shehzad should be remanded in judicial custody.
Accepting the police's contention after perusing documents on record, the court said the prosecution's submission of international conspiracy "cannot be said to be impossible".
"I find the allegations against the accused are well-founded. Therefore, the police need to be provided with sufficient time to investigate the case. Five-day police custody is justified," the court said.
The court also dismissed the defence's claim that the arrest was illegal and asserted the police had followed all required norms while apprehending the accused.
Earlier in the day, police had told the media that the alleged attacker was a Bangladeshi national who had illegally entered India and changed his name to Bijoy Das. He was held from adjoining Thane city.
As per preliminary probe, he had entered the Bollywood star's home, in Satguru Sharan building in Bandra, in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft, police had said.
Khan (54) was stabbed multiple times in the attack, after which he underwent a five-hour surgery in nearby Lilavati Hospital.
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Four booked for tying 18-year-old to tree, beating him up in UP's Pratapgarh
Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Four people were booked here for the abduction and assault of a man who they allegedly tied to a tree and beat up, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, a video of which has gone viral, took place on Tuesday afternoon under the Kunda police station limits.
The FIR was registered on Wednesday evening based on a complaint from the victim's father.
According to Keshav Prasad Yadav, a resident of Mauli village, some people called his 18-year-old son Nikhil Yadav on the phone and asked him to come out of his house around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
As he reached outside the village as instructed, the accused allegedly forced him into a car and took him towards the Tinpedwa forest area, where they tied him to a tree and assaulted, the complainant said.
The attackers also recorded a video of the incident and circulated it on social media. The purported video shows the men thrashing Nikhil one after another, while one of them is assumed to have recorded the act.
Kunda Station House Officer Manoj Pandey confirmed the incident and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest all the accused.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has shared the video on social media, describing the incident as reflective of a "dominant mindset" against the PDA (Pichda or Backward, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minority), and demanded strict action against the accused.
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