A Fingerprint Twist As Mumbai Police Probes Shock Attack On Saif Ali Khan

The 19 sets of fingerprints collected from actor Saif Ali Khan's residence after the attempted burglary and knife attack on him do not match the fingerprints of the accused Shariful Islam, the investigation into the high-profile case has found.

According to sources, Mumbai Police had sent the fingerprints found at Mr Khan's home to the fingerprint bureau of the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID). A system-generated report has established that the prints do not match Shariful's. The CID, sources said, has informed the Mumbai Police that the test result is negative. Mumbai Police has sent more samples for further testing.

The 54-year-old actor suffered six stab injuries in a shocking attack on January 15 after an intruder broke into his home. When Mr Khan confronted the intruder, the latter attacked him with a knife. One of the stab injuries Mr Khan suffered was on his spine. The intruder managed to escape and Mr Khan was rushed to Lilavati Hospital with serious injuries.

Doctors have said one of the knife injuries was on the actor's spine and had caused his spinal fluid to leak. They also said the knife was just 2 mm away from his spinal cord. Mr Khan, they said, is recovering well. He was released from hospital on Tuesday and has been advised bed rest for a week.

The accused, Shariful, is a Bangladeshi national who entered India illegally. He has told police that someone had promised to get fake citizenship documents made for him in exchange for money. This, he has said, was why he attempted the burglary at Mr Khan's home. Police are now looking for the person who promised to get Shariful's documents made.

The sources have said Mumbai Police had contacted Western Railway to help identify the suspect captured on footage of CCTV cameras in the 12-storey building where the actor lives. The accused, it is learnt, had boarded a train from Bandra station and Railways had used its facial recognition system to shortlist some suspects whose appearance matched the intruder's. Sources said this was done because the footage of the intruder exiting the building was unclear. While Shariful was arrested based on CCTV footage, police are trying to gather more evidence to build a bulletproof case against him.