Saif Ali Khan attacked: Mumbai Police arrests accused from Thane in late night operation

Accused after arrest (left) (Pic/Hanif Patel)

Days after the attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, Mumbai Police arrested the accused from Thane district in Maharashtra on Saturday night, officials said.

The accused has been identified as Mohammed Sharif UL Islam Shehzad (30). He used Vijay Das as his alias.

He kept changing his name, said DCP Dixit Gedam.

The accused was arrested from the Labour Camp near a metro construction site at Hiranandani in Thane in a late night operation.

Vijay Das, a resident of West Bengal, has worked as housekeeping staff that was hired by the Saif-Kareena's staff in the past few occasions, sources said.

During his visit, Das had studied the entry and exits of the actors' Sadguru Sharan building and he managed to gain access to the house on the day of the incident.

Sources in the Crime Branch revealed that they had managed to reach the accused with the help of his CCTV footage found outside the Andheri West station, where he was picked up by his friend. With the help of the footage, the cops got the first clue, i.e. the motorcycle number of Das's friend who had come outside the station to pick him up. The cops traced the vehicle and with the interrogation of his friend they managed to reach Das who was then arrested from Thane with the assistance of Kasarvadali police,

On preliminary interrogations the accused revealed to the police that he wanted to earn some quick money in a short period. The accused is originally from West Bengal and in Mumbai, used to stay near Worli Koliwada. With the fear of arrest, he recently shifted to Thane Hiranandani.

The accused was traced by the Crime Branch Team unit -9 headed by Daya Nayak under the supervision of Additional Commissioner of police, West Region Paramjit Dahiya and Dixit Gedam, DCP Zone 09.

The police investigations has revealed that accused in the Saif Ali Khan attack case had changed his clothes to evade arrest, official sources had said on Friday.

The police had formed multiple teams to trace and nab the suspect. He was seen in CCTV footage using a staircase to reach the actor's house and the footage also showed him using the same staircase to escape after attacking the actor, sources had earlier said.

"He will be produced before a court and the police will seek his custody for interrogations in the case," said an official.

The accused arrested in the Saif Ali Khan attack case is suspected to be a Bangladeshi national, said DCP Dixit Gedam.

"There is preliminary evidence suggesting he is Bangladeshi, as he possesses no valid Indian documents," Gedam added.

He allegedly entered India illegally and changed his name. The accused arrived in Mumbai 5-6 months ago and returned to the city 15 days ago, working with a housekeeping agency.

Preliminary investigations suggest that this was his first time entering Saif Ali Khan's house.