The chargesheet submitted by the Bandra police in the knife attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan reveals in detail how the accused, Shariful Islam, 30, managed to enter the actor’s residence, Satguru Sharan. It also discloses exactly where the accused’s fingerprints were found – which matched the samples taken – and how the high-profile neighbours and security personnel remained completely unaware of the intrusion until much later.
According to the chargesheet accessed by The Free Press Journal, the accused had begun surveillance of the actor’s building on January 15. CCTV footage first spotted him at 3.01pm near the actor’s residence, nearby Bharati Villa and the Next Avenue building. He was seen conducting a recce for nearly an hour between Satguru Sharan and a nearby hotel, Shigadi.
At 4.03pm, he was seen near Manohar and Vimal buildings – both close to the actor’s residence. Around 4.55pm, he entered Bharati Villa while talking on the phone, went behind the building, and climbed to the first floor. From there, late at night, he jumped into Satguru Sharan by entering through the compound area shared by Bharati Villa.
The chargesheet states that Shariful climbed to the first floor of Satguru Sharan using the building’s fire pipe and then continued up the staircase to the eleventh floor. CCTV footage shows him on the sixth floor at 1.37am on January 16, climbing the stairs, and again at 2.37am, descending. He was last seen at 3.37am exiting through the Bharati Villa compound. Despite police arriving at the scene soon after, they were unable to locate the intruder in the vicinity.
At 8.35am on January 16, Shariful was spotted at Dadar station, where he bought earphones before heading to Worli.
Earlier, on January 9, CCTV footage captured Shariful outside Andheri station with another person. The two entered a Xerox shop, made a copy of a document, and paid via Paytm. Police traced the transaction to Satyanarayan Pandey, 46, of Dharavi, and through him obtained Shariful’s mobile number – a major breakthrough. Using this, they tracked and arrested Shariful in Thane.
Contrary to media claims that his fingerprints didn’t match, the chargesheet confirms that 20 prints were collected from the scene. Forensic experts later matched Shariful’s left palm print on a wooden door on the eighth floor.
After Saif Ali Khan and his son Taimur went to Lilavati Hospital, Kareena Kapoor first called her sister Karisma, then reached out to their manager Poonam Damania’s husband, Tejas Damania, for help. It was Tejas who reported the incident to the police. Officers soon arrived at Satguru Sharan, but the intruder was not found.
Surprisingly, most neighbours only learned about the incident after 6.00am on January 16.
That night, security guards Dhanpal Yadav and Sureshkumar Yadav were on duty. Neither noticed the intruder and only became aware of the incident when the family came downstairs.
