False lead and new footage later, Saif Ali Khan stabbing accused remains elusive

Mumbai latest news: 40 hours after actor Saif Ali Khan attacked was knifed openly in his Bandra (West) apartment, the murderer remained under the auspices of Mumbai police. Authorities suspect he might be a "Saif Ali Khan stabbed" because he seemingly changed his clothes in an effort to deceive officers after he fled the scene of the crime.

Early in the morning, Bandra police arrested a "suspect" and brought him in for questioning. He was released after five hours when police determined he had nothing to do with the case. According to police sources, the man was arrested because he looked like the accused, who was filmed on CCTV inside Saif’s office, and had prior convictions for minor offences.

The police also arrested a carpenter who had been at Saif’s place recently, as well as some of the other labourers there. The carpenter’s family claimed he worked at the family home but wasn’t responsible for the attack.

With this probe so far unproven, the police looked like they’d fallen back on their laurels. However, late that night, police sources reported that the man had been caught on another camera, showing that he had changed clothes when he left the actor’s building.

The cipher emerged when police were looking at CCTV footage from Bandra, one of which apparently captured the offender in a half-sleeved light blue shirt outside Lucky Junction. In the earlier CCTV images of the fire exit of the Satguru Sharan building, the accused was reportedly in a half-sleeve black T-shirt.

"That the suspect changed clothes suggests that he might be a mature felon.”We’ve intensified the search, and they’re looking at the CCTVs from local railway stations," said an officer.

In addition, according to police, the suspect took great care to cover his face with a red scarf and cap in order to dodge cameras at the building.

A spokesman said the officer said he’d sent the suspect’s photo to just about everyone in the more than 40,000-person force and to retired officers, but so far, no one had recognized him.