On Saturday, the police had detained a person named Akash Kailash Kanojia from Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh in connection with the attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan. Sky has been released on Sunday. Akash was released by the police after the arrest of Mohammad Shariful Islam Shahzad from Thane, Maharashtra.
Mumbai Police Sub-Inspector Pradeep Funde said, ‘The person detained at Durg station on Saturday afternoon from the Dnyaneshwari Express, which runs between Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Kolkata’s Shalimar, was just a suspect. He has been released after interrogation. He was kept at the Railway Protection Force (RPF) post at Durg station overnight and released this morning.
“We can detain anyone for questioning,” Phude told reporters at Durg railway station. Since yesterday we have been saying that he is just a suspect, we should investigate before reaching any conclusion. There has been no mistake from our side. We had told the media that we would share authentic details, but some went ahead and declared him an accused.
During this, Akash Kanojia said, ‘I have not done anything wrong. I was brought here for questioning and now I have been released. I am not an accused. Let us tell you, a team of Mumbai Police led by Phude had reached here last night to interrogate the detained person.
#WATCH | Durg, Chhattisgarh: Mumbai Police Sub-Inspector Pradeep Funde says, “From yesterday, we have been saying that he is just a suspect, let us investigate before coming to any conclusion. We are releasing him. We will drop him at the railway station. He is not the accused,… https://t.co/Hmr5ETfu9m pic.twitter.com/VIrymPD4bN
— ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2025
Mumbai Police on Sunday said it has arrested the alleged attacker, Bangladeshi national Mohammad Shariful Islam Shahzad, who had entered India illegally and changed his name to Bijoy Das. Mumbai Police said that according to preliminary investigation, he had entered Saif’s house in Satguru Sharan building in Bandra on the morning of January 16 with the intention of theft. Saif (54) was stabbed multiple times in the attack, following which he underwent five-hour surgery at nearby Lilavati Hospital.
