Man spotted in CCTV footage at Saif’s home is not my son: Shariful’s father

(Left) Shariful Islam Sehzad, the accused in the case of attack on Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, the CCTV footage recovered from Saif Ali Khan's home and (right) Saif Ali Khan.Collage

Mumbai police has arrested Shariful Islam Shehzad as the main accused in connection to the attack on Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan. However, Sharful’s father has told Prothom Alo that the person arrested by the police is his son, Shariful but the person spotted in the CCTV footage was someone else and not his son.

Shariful Islam’s father Ruhul Amin Fakir told Prothom Alo over the phone, “I don't understand how my son could do this. The person I’m seeing in the CCTV footage is not my son. The person who has been arrested by the police is my son.”

“My son has no resemblance with the facial structure and hairstyle of the person that can be seen in the CCTV footage. My son used to back brush his hair and didn’t grow his hair up to the forehead,” he added.

Shariful’s father further added, “Shariful had left their Jhalakathi home around March or April last year. Later, I heard that he’s living in India. However, I didn’t have much idea of exactly where was he living in India. Shariful used to get his salary on the 10th of every month and used to send us Tk 10,000-12,000 by the 12th.”

In response to the question “when was the last time you spoke to Shariful?” Ruhul Amin Fakir said, “Shariful called me last Friday night. He asked me how I was doing. Then we talked about a few other things as well. I’m a reticent person in general so we didn’t talk much. I haven’t heard his voice since then.”

Different Indian media outlets reported that accused Shariful was a district and national level wrestler in Bangladesh. Ruhul Amin Fakir was surprised to hear that. He then said, “There’s not much of a wrestling tradition in our Jhalakathi district. So, there’s no question of him doing wrestling except for once or twice during the Eid celebration.”

The accused was presented before Bandra Court after his arrest.
ANI

“Wrestling is a game usually played in Dhaka. However, Shariful used to play football and he had studied up to secondary school certificate (SSC),” he added.

Replying to the question, “What did Shariful do for a living in Jhalakathi?” Ruhul Amin Fakir said, “I had bought him a motor cycle and he used to carry passengers with that.”

With despair in his voice the man added, “People like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Saif Ali Khan are on the same level as the prime minister of India. He (Shariful) is being accused in a case involving a person like him (Saif Ali Khan). I don’t understand what will happen. I’ve never heard of any accusation or complaint against my son.”

“I want my son to have a fair trial. We have no one to help us out in India. We are really helpless. We are just keeping our faith in Allah. All of us are praying to him. Our financial condition is not that good either. Let’s see what happens in my son’s trial today (Friday). I’m thinking about visiting the India High Commission and the Foreign Ministry in a day or two,” he added.

Ruhul Amin Fakir said Shariful is the second of his three sons. He also said that Shariful has not gotten married yet.

Shariful’s lawyer Sandeep Shekhane has stated that there’s no proof of the accused being a Bangladeshi citizen. Police claims that the accused arrived in Mumbai six months ago. Meanwhile, the lawyer claims that Shariful had been living in Mumbai with his family for seven years.

Sandeep Shekhane also stated that police is trying to divert the focus of this case to different direction by changing the nationality of the accused. He claims that the police couldn’t recover any evidence in Shariful’s possession.

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