Mumbai: Bangladeshi illegal migrant Shariful Fakir (30), arrested for breaking into actor Saif Ali Khan’s residence in Bandra and stabbing him on January 16, has requested the police to deport him to his native country. Fakir told Bandra police that his intention was to commit robbery and not harm the actor.
“Shariful claimed that he decided to commit robbery because he was financially bankrupt due to the loss of his job since December 15, 2024. He admitted that if he had managed to steal money or valuables from the actor’s apartment, he would have fled to Bangladesh himself. day. He said he had planned his escape route from Meghalaya and crossed the Mulki river to Barisal Sardar in Bangladesh,” a police source told TOI. Last year, Shariful entered India by crossing the Dawki River on the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya, paid 10,000 rupees to an agent to take him to Assam and then took a bus to Calcutta, where he stayed for three days before taking a train to Mumbai in May.
On Wednesday, police completed crime scene reconstruction with the recovery of a white plastic bag near Bandra Talao. “The bag contained several tools, including a screwdriver, a hammer, a saw blade and a piece of a broken knife, which the accused had thrown away near Bandra Talao, about 1.4 kilometers from Khan’s Satguru Sharan building in St Teresa Road,” a police officer said.
During the reenactment, Shariful demonstrated to the police team his method of entry: climbing a 4-foot wall to enter Satguru Sharan’s premises, using a ladder to climb 12 feet to access the conduit, reaching the fourth floor where he cut the mesh of rats with a knife. He then used the staircase to reach the 10th floor, from where he climbed through the shaft to enter the bathroom in Khan’s 11th-floor apartment. He used the same route to escape. He showed police he used the same fourth-floor chute to go down before jumping 12 feet after noticing the ladder was missing.
The investigation team visited several places with Shariful, including Bandra Talao, his sleeping place in Khar, Bandra station, Dadar and Worli-Koliwada, where they documented statements from the salon worker who cut his hair. “Police analyzed footage from over 650 CCTV cameras, both private and government-owned…, around three dozen recordings clearly show their presence in the area and their movements, which serve as crucial evidence,” an officer said.
Shariful will be produced before the Bandra court on Friday.
To date, the police have recorded the statement of actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, who described the intrusion as terrifying and confirmed that no valuables were stolen from the 11th floor apartment. Seven staff members and the autorickshaw driver, Bhajan Singh Rana, who took Saif to the hospital have also given statements. Authorities also recorded statements of manpower agent Jitendra Pandey, who had hired Sahriful and alerted the police about his presence in Worli, providing contact details that helped in his capture in Thane after a five-hour operation.
Saif’s statement is still pending.