Congress doubts if police have arrested real culprit in Saif Ali Khan attack case

Mumbai: Congress has expressed doubts over the identity of an accused arrested in the Saif Ali Khan attack case asking Mumbai police to clarify whether the person shown in the CCTV footage and the one who has been arrested are the same person or different. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole also accused the BJP of giving a religious angle to the matter. On the other hand, a Maharashtra minister has raised doubts on whether the actor was actually stabbed or not.

Patole on Thursday questioned the report filed by the Mumbai police in the stabbing attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan. “The attack on Saif Ali Khan, it has been stated that the person shown in the CCTV footage and the person who has been arrested are different. The police need to clarify this immediately,” he said.

Patole said that the clarification is important as it won’t not take long for the Bollywood industry to leave Mumbai, which will eventually harm Maharashtra. “This is important because even in Mumbai’s supposedly safe areas, if actors are not safe, then it will not take long for the Bollywood industry to leave Mumbai, which will harm Maharashtra,” he added.

The Congress leader accused the BJP of giving the issue a religious colour. “The attack on Saif Ali Khan has spread an atmosphere of fear in Bollywood. The attack is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, but a security and law and order issue. However, some people in the ruling BJP are trying to give it a religious colour. If the ruling BJP is pursuing a religious agenda even in the matter of law and order, then this is the misfortune of Maharashtra,” said Patole.

Saif Ali Khan (54) was stabbed multiple times by an intruder on January 16 at the actor’s house in Bandra. The actor was out of danger, according to the doctors who operated on him to remove the knife from his back.

Police have arrested a man they identified as Shariful Islam Shehzad, a Bangladeshi national for allegedly breaking into the actor’s home and attacking him. The police have claimed that the accused had entered India illegally and had been living under the false name Bijoy Das.

The 54-year-old actor was stabbed six times during a burglary attempt at his home in the wee hours on Thursday last week. As per the doctors, he sustained stab wounds to his spine, neck and hands and underwent two surgeries at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital.

Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane said, “I saw when he came out of the hospital. I doubted whether he had been stabbed, or whether he was acting. He was dancing while walking.”