V Narayan (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 29, 2025)
Mumbai: There is strong oral, physical and technical evidence that will stand in a court of law against Shariful Fakir, arrested for allegedly breaking into actor Saif Ali Khan’s residence on Jan 16 and stabbing him, said additional commissioner of police (west region) Paramjit Singh Dahiya on Tuesday.
He addressed the media after questions were raised about the identity of the arrested accused and fingerprints collected from Khan’s flat not matching with that of Fakir’s.
Dahiya said, “We are yet to receive the fingerprint report from the state CID, but we are certain Fakir is involved in the attack on the actor. It was the accused who narrated the entire incident during the crime scene reconstruction.”
He added: “Fingerprints constitute only one aspect of evidence collection. Multiple people accessing the crime scene could complicate print retrieval. We have a lot of technical evidence like CCTV footage and the mobile network location of the stolen SIM that the accused was using when he committed the offence.”
Dahiya further said that the facial recognition test was just a standard operating procedure and was not done because there was confusion over the accused’s identity. “Besides, we have collected blood-stained weapons used by the accused and sent the clothes of the victim [Khan] and the accused for forensic analysis.” He added that Fakir was familiar with the area and was aware that high-profile people live there.
A Bandra police officer said, “The team has worked on the dump data collection of mobile networks through which it is found that the accused was in the locality on the day of crime.”
The officer added, “On Dec 31 night, Fakir conducted a recce of Bandra and Khar. He then worked for three days in a hotel in Bandra (W) which is located a few metres from Satguru Sharan, where Khan resides. He left the job after a dispute with the owner. On Jan 16, Fakir walked from Bandra to Khar and to Satguru Sharan and decided to commit a burglary. This is one part of the technical evidence we have gathered after his mobile network location was found earlier and also on the day of crime near Khan’s building.”
Fakir will be produced before Bandra court on Wednesday for custody extension.
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Contrary to earlier denials by senior officers in media reports, Addl CP Paramjit Singh Dahiya said CID is examining fingerprints, but maintained that no report has been received
Faizan Khan (MID-DAY; January 29, 2025)
Forty-eight hours after mid-day reported that the fingerprints of Shariful Islam, arrested in connection with the attack on Saif Ali Khan, did not match the initial 19 samples sent to the fingerprint bureau of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Mumbai police told media that the samples had indeed been sent to the CID, though no reports had come yet.
Sources have stated that, given the number of people present at the crime scene, there is a possibility of overlapping fingerprints, with some matching and others not. Officials have also confirmed that they have collected over 200 samples from the crime scene so far.
The clarification came after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed Mumbai Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar to address the media. Initially, it was expected that Phansalkar would clear the air on key issues, including the mismatch between the accused captured on CCTV and the individual arrested. However, on Wednesday, it was decided that Additional Commissioner (West Region) Paramjit Singh Dahiya and DCP (Zone IX) Dixit Gedam would address the media instead.
During the press briefing, Dahiya stated, “This is a clue-based investigation being conducted by the DCP Zone IX team with assistance from the Crime Branch. So far, we have gathered substantial evidence against the accused, and further investigation is ongoing.”
‘Results awaited’
Questioned about the fingerprint mismatch, Dahiya said, “We have not received any reports as of now.” He confirmed that fingerprint samples were sent to the CID but clarified that results were still awaited. He added that they are considering conducting a facial recognition test on the accused.
When reporters questioned whether this indicated uncertainty about the accused’s identity, he responded, “He is the same accused, and we have oral, physical and technical evidence against him. Doing facial recognition and fingerprint analysis are part of the process.”
mid-day had reported on Sunday that Shariful Islam’s fingerprints did not match with the 19 samples sent to the CID, citing that all reports came back negative. Senior officers of Mumbai Police initially denied sending samples to the CID, claiming the CID had no role in the investigation. However, sources now suggest multiple samples were collected from the crime scene due to the presence of 10-12 individuals, including Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.
‘Additional proof’
A senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated, “Around 200 fingerprints were recovered from the scene, making it likely that some will match and others won’t. While fingerprints are primary evidence, we have gathered additional proof linking the accused to the attack.”
The police continue to face questions about the discrepancies in the case, including the mismatch between CCTV footage and the arrested individual, as investigations progress.