Saif Ali Khan's security guards were asleep when attacker entered house: Cops

The Mumbai Police said that both the security guards of the building where Saif Ali Khan resides were asleep when the attacker entered the building by scaling the compound wall.

In Short

• Police recreated crime scene at Saif Ali Khan's residence with accused
• No CCTV in corridor, both security guards were asleep, police say
• Accused removed shoes, switched off phone to avoid noise

The Bangladeshi national who has been arrested for stabbing Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan entered the actor's building on January 16 by scaling its compound wall, and found the security guards sleeping at that time, police said.

The intruder, Shariful Islam Shehzad alias Vijay Das (30), entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV cameras were installed, a police official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

When he found that both the security guards in the building were sleeping, he entered it by crossing the boundary wall. Shehzad then removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid any noise and also switched off his phone, the official said.

"During the probe, the police found that there are no CCTV cameras installed in the building's corridor. The investigation revealed that one of the two security guards was sleeping in the cabin and the other near the gate," he was quoted as saying.

The Mumbai Police recreated the crime scene at the actor's 12-storey residence in Bandra with the accused on Tuesday. The police spent about an hour inside the actor's residence, while trying to understand how the attacker, Shehzad, carried out the crime with the intention of committing a robbery.

Shehzad entered the 54-year-old actor's house on January 16 reportedly with the intention of committing theft. However, the situation escalated when he was spotted by a house help in the room of Saif's younger son, Jeh.

The staff raised an alarm, prompting Saif to confront the intruder. During the altercation, the actor was stabbed multiple times, including a serious wound near his spine.

Saif was rushed to Lilavati Hospital, where doctors performed immediate surgery to take out a piece of knife lodged in his back, as well as to stop leakage of spinal fluid. He was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, five days after the incident.

Meanwhile, the police said that the accused, who was arrested from Thane on January 19, entered the country illegally seven months ago and used a West Bengal resident's Aadhaar card to procure a SIM before moving to Mumbai.