Saif Ali Khan stabbing: Court sends accused to police custody till January 29, orders further probe

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saif ali khan

Mumbai: Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, the prime accused in the Saif Ali Khan attack case, has been sent to police custody until January 29 by a Mumbai court. The Bandra Holiday Court observed that substantial progress has been made in the case and instructed the Mumbai police to investigate other crucial angles.

The court acknowledged the seriousness of the offense, stating that it's triable by the sessions court. It also emphasized that further investigation is necessary to ascertain the accused's innocence. 

"Such investigation is necessary even for ascertaining the innocence of the accused so taking all facts into account the submissions pertaining to the notice under BNSS section 35 don’t apply," the court stated.

However, the defense argued that the investigation related to the accused is already complete, and therefore, further police custody is unnecessary.

Advocate Sandeep Sherkhane, representing the accused, pointed out discrepancies in the case, including a mismatch between the accused's face and the alleged perpetrator's face structure. The police, however, were granted custody to investigate how the accused obtained the weapon used in the attack.

"Today, the Police has come forward with the Police custody of the accused. We have objected to the length (of the custody). Already the investigation has been done regarding the weapon and everything. It has been clearly stated in the court that the investigation related to the accused is over. Therefore, further Police custody is not required. The investigation regarding the inquiry and the CDR and other things for which the accused custody is not required which has been submitted before the Court. To that, certain point has been laid by the public prosecutor regarding the weapon recovery - how he has obtained, that has been raised. For which the Police custody has been granted," Sandeep Sherkhane said.