The Bangladeshi national arrested on charges of stabbing Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan at his Mumbai residence has applied for bail, pleading innocence.
In a plea before the sessions court on Friday, the 30-year-old man, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, claimed that a false case was filed against him.
Fifty-four-year-old Saif was stabbed multiple times by an intruder inside his apartment in upscale Bandra on January 16, leading to his hospitalisation and an emergency surgery at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital.
The accused, arrested two days after the attack on Saif, in his bail plea claimed his arrest was illegal, as the investigating agency had "clearly and blatantly disregarded" section 47 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which pertains to informing a person about the grounds of his arrest and right to bail.
The plea stated that even if the witnesses' statements are taken as gospel truth, without admitting anything on record, for the sake of arguments, it won't be able to fulfil the ingredient of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 311, which deals with cases of robbery or dacoity committed with the intent to cause death or grievous hurt.
Shariful, in the plea filed through Ajay Gawali, said all the necessary recovery and discovery was done, the investigation is practically complete, and the mere filing of the chargesheet is pending.
The bail plea stated that the accused has cooperated with the investigation and "no useful purpose will be served by detaining him further in custody".
The plea will be heard on April 1.
According to police, CCTV footage from January 9 — a week before the attack — had helped identify Shahzad. The footage purportedly showed the suspect roaming in the Dadar railway station area and parts of Prabhadevi and Worli Koliwada near Saif’s home.