Friday, 24 January 2025
Friday, 24 January 2025
The father of the Bangladeshi man arrested for stabbing Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has added fuel to a raging controversy over the attack.
Ruhul Fakir, father of the arrested Shariful Fakir, pointed to what many have been saying on social media – that the images of the person seen in the CCTV footage from Saif’s Bandra apartment don’t match with how the accused arrested by the Mumbai police looks.
“My son Shariful Fakir has been arrested. I have seen both the images closely. I know my son and the two images are completely different,” Ruhul Fakir Fakir told the ABP Majha channel over phone from Bangladesh’s Jhalokathi in Barisal division.
Ruhul said the man caught on CCTV cameras at the highrise – where the actor lives with his wife and fellow Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan and their two young sons – was completely different from how his son looks.
“My son never kept his hair long,” Ruhul said.
Saif was attacked with a knife and stabbed several times, with injuries in his neck, spine and hand.
He had to undergo surgery at Lilavati Hospital, where he reached early on January 16 in an autorickshaw with a piece of the knife still stuck to his spine. The knife blade was removed surgically.
“My son has never even wrestled in his life. How can he attack someone?” Ruhul Fakir asked.
He also claimed that his son had entered India with proper documents for work.
The Mumbai police have said that Shariful had entered the home of the actor for theft and after being confronted by Saif – who had been alerted by the cries of the family’s nanny – had stabbed the actor multiple times.
The person spotted on the CCTV camera walking down the flight of stairs in the housing complex where the actor lives wore a T-shirt, was fair and had hair longer than the guy apprehended late on Saturday night from Thane’s Hiranandani Estate.
Several netizens have pointed out the “obvious” differences between the person arrested and the one seen on the CCTV images which have been circulated widely in the media and social media platforms.
The Mumbai cops had said that Shariful had made a payment through an app near Worli and then left for Thane. Before moving to Worli last September, Shariful was employed with a restaurant in Thane.
The actor’s discharge from the Lilavati hospital on Tuesday afternoon too has added to the controversy.
BJP leader Nitesh Rane, who is also Maharashtra minister-in-charge of ports development, on Thursday expressed doubts over whether Saif was actually attacked.
"Look at what Bangladeshis are doing in Mumbai. They entered Saif Ali Khan's house. Earlier they used to stand at the crossings of the roads, now they have started entering houses. Maybe he came to take him [Saif] away. It is good, garbage should be taken away. I saw when he came out of the hospital, I doubted whether he had been stabbed or he was acting. He was dancing while walking," Rane said at a public event in Pune.
Ajit Pawar, one of the deputy chief ministers of Maharashtra, dismissed his cabinet colleague's statement.
“I don’t know what he said… but if has something to say he should convey it to the home department [headed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis]. The truth is that a person, who had come from Bangladesh, has been arrested. Everyone is attracted towards Mumbai,” Pawar said.
Shiv Sena turned Congress turned Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Sanjay Nirupam had on Wednesday expressed cynicism over the attack as well.
“Saif Ali Khan is physically very fit, goes to the gym regularly but is his immune system so strong?” Nirupam asked on his ‘X’ (earlier known as Twitter) handle. “The doctors said that the knife had penetrated 2.5 inches inside his back. Probably it was stuck inside. The surgical procedure went on for six hours. All this happened on January 16. Today is January 21. So fit as soon as you got out of the hospital? In just five days?”
