Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, the Bangladeshi national arrested for allegedly stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan in his Bandra apartment on January 29, has filed a bail application, claiming he has been falsely implicated in the case. The plea, submitted to the sessions court in Mumbai on Friday, asserts that the First Information Report (FIR) against him is “patently false” and that he has been wrongly accused.
Court to hear bail application
Shariful, through his lawyer Ajay Gawali, alleges that the police violated his fundamental rights by failing to inform him of the grounds for his arrest, a mandatory legal requirement. The sessions court is scheduled to hear his bail application on April 1.
The incident occurred on January 16, when Khan (54) was reportedly stabbed multiple times inside his 12th-floor apartment in Bandra. He underwent emergency surgery at Lilavati Hospital following the attack. Shariful was apprehended by the police two days later.
Shariful’s bail plea
In his bail plea, Shariful claims his arrest was illegal, citing a “clear and blatant disregard” of Section 47 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which mandates informing an arrested person of the reasons for their detention and their right to bail. He further argues that even if witness statements are accepted as true, they do not satisfy the elements of Section 311 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to robbery or dacoity with intent to cause death or grievous hurt.
Shariful’s plea emphasises that the investigation is essentially complete, with all necessary recoveries and discoveries made, and only the filing of the chargesheet remains. He asserts that he has fully cooperated with the investigation and that his continued detention serves no purpose.
Following Shariful’s arrest, his father had claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, alleging that his son was not the individual captured in the building’s CCTV footage. However, the police refuted this claim, stating they had used facial recognition technology to identify Shariful. The upcoming court hearing will determine whether Shariful’s claims of false implication and procedural irregularities hold merit.
(With PTI Inputs)