The suspect who stabbed Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has been arrested
A man believed to be a Bangladeshi national was arrested in India’s financial capital Mumbai on Sunday and is the prime suspect in the stabbing death of Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, police said.
Thursday’s attack on Khan, one of India’s most bankable stars, shocked the country’s film industry and Mumbai residents, with many calling for better policing and security. He was out of danger, doctors said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Dixit Ghadam said, “Prime evidence shows that the accused has Bangladeshi citizenship and changed his name after entering India illegally.”
The suspect, who was arrested in suburban Mumbai, used the name Vijay Das but is believed to be Mohammed Shariful Islam Shehzad and had been working with a home security agency since coming to the city five to six months ago, Ghadam said.
He added that the police will arrest the suspect for further investigation.
The star was stabbed in his own house
Khan, 54, was stabbed six times by a burglar in his home. He entered the hospital wearing blood-soaked clothes and along with his six-year-old son Taimur underwent surgery for injuries to his back, neck and hand, doctors said.
Doctors said on Friday that Khan was stable and out of danger after the surgery.
Neeraj Uttamnani, one of the doctors who treated Khan, told reporters last week that “if the knife had gone in further, there would have been damage to the spine,” and the actor escaped by just two millimetres.
Police in Mumbai arrested the first key suspect in the attack on Friday, and police in central India’s Chhattisgarh state arrested a second person on Saturday.
Khan is the son of former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore and is one of Bollywood’s greatest couples. He and his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan have acted in more than 60 films each, including a few in which they have both worked together.
in Instagram post Last week, Kapoor Khan called on the media and paparazzi to “refrain from incessant speculation and coverage”, saying that the constant attention is too high and poses a “great risk to our safety”.
