A man was arrested from Maharashtra's Thane early this morning for allegedly attacking Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan in his Mumbai residence, the police said. The accused, identified as 30-year-old Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, was caught near the Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali, about 35 kilometers from Mr Khan's residence. Saif Ali Khan suffered multiple stab wounds, including on his neck and near the spine, after the intruder entered his upscale Bandra home and attacked him in the early hours of Thursday.

“There is primary evidence to anticipate that the accused is a Bangladeshi. He does not have valid Indian documents. Some seizures indicate that he is a Bangladeshi national...As of now, we think that the accused has entered the residence (of Saif Ali Khan) for the first time,” said DCP Zone 9 Dikshit Gedam.“Prima facie the accused is a Bangladeshi and after entering India illegally he changed his name. He was using Vijay Das as his current name. He came to Mumbai 5-6 months ago. He stayed in Mumbai for a few days and then in the vicinity of Mumbai. The accused used to work in a housekeeping agency,” Gedam added.

Mr . Khan (54) was stabbed multiple times in the attack, after which he underwent a five-hour surgery at nearby Lilavati Hospital.The official said after attacking the actor, the accused had a restful sleep at a bus stop, changed his clothes and reached Bandra railway station, from where he travelled to Dadar and later to Worli before heading to Thane city.Shehzad had taken all precautions to evade the police but got caught because of his backpack, he said. With the help of the image of the accused’s face captured on CCTV, the police analysed persons with criminal records who looked like him and detained a few suspects. But when nothing came out of this, they checked the CCTV footage from the Bandra area again, the official said.

The accused was seen in a CCTV footage walking towards the Bandra railway station around 7 a.m., and he had changed his clothes, he said.Shehzad, who had worked in a pub in Worli in the past, stayed on the premises on the night of January 16 and went unnoticed. The next day, he approached a labor contractor in the area for work and left for Thane. The official said the labor contractor provided Shehzad’s mobile number to the police, and it was found that he had done some online transactions while on the run.A court has remanded the accused in five-day police custody after observing that the police’s contention of an international conspiracy cannot be ruled out. Saif Ali Khan is currently recovering after he underwent successful surgery to stop spinal fluid leakage. His doctors have stated that he is stable and may be discharged soon.