India woke up on Sunday to the Mumbai police declaring they had nabbed the man who had stabbed Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan at his home early on Thursday, and Maharashtra’s ruling combine underlined that the arrested accused was a Bangladeshi.

PTI reported the Mumbai police as saying that the attacker is Bangladeshi and had changed his name to Vijay Das after entering India.

Soon after, MahaYuti leaders put out videos.

“Mohammad Shehzad, who attacked Saif Ali Khan, is a Bangladeshi. I thank Mumbai Police for arresting him. I urge Maharashtra Police to send back all Bangladeshis and Rohingyas,” BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said in a video clip posted by PTI Videos on X (formerly Twitter).

Then came another video, by Krishna Hedge, a spokesperson for Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.

“The police have informed that the attacker and the culprit in the Saif Ali Khan case is a Bangladeshi. The Shiv Sena and our founder... have always stood and fought against the infiltration of Bangladeshis. Not only should the accused be punished severely, but there should also be a crackdown on all the illegal Bangladeshis who are staying in our country," Hedge said.

The man, who was nabbed from Thane near Mumbai where he was apparently sleeping in the bushes, first gave his name as Bijoy Das but later claimed his name is Mohammed Sajad, reports quoted police officials as saying.

A DCP-rank official was reportedly part of the combing team that nabbed the man. Unnamed police officers were quoted as saying in some reports that the man earlier worked in Thane and so was familiar with the area where he was hiding.

The man reportedly has no documents to show that he is Indian.

There was scepticism in social media reactions to the arrest as well as outrage at Bangladeshi illegal immigration into India.

One user wrote on Facebook in response to a news website article on the attacker being nabbed: “How many people do they claim to be stabbers? There’s one guy who got picked by Railway Police in Durg, now two others were picked from Mumbai. Their faces matched with the attacker from CCTV?”

Another wrote: “How many are there all the images of the men look different.”