The Bandra Magistrate Court in Mumbai extended the police custody of the man accused of stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan, until January 29, on Friday, after the Mumbai police sought his extended custody.

The police told the court that it would like to probe if the accused had any accomplices and find out where he procured his weapon, though the police had stated earlier that the accused had stolen it from his employer.

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The police also said that they need the accused in custody to conduct a facial recognition match, adding that it is yet to recover his shoes which he wore during the crime. The police also said that they wish to record the statement of a West Bengal resident Khukmoni Sheikh whose Aadhar card the accused allegedly used to purchase a SIM card.

Earlier, the Mumbai police had sought an initial custody of 14 days, alleging that interrogation was necessary to probe if the accused acted alone or he was instigated to commit the crime as well as find out how he obtained actor Saif Ali Khan’s address.

The accused’s lawyer Sandeep Shikhane told media persons that the police has failed to add Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) to the Saif Ali Khan stabbing case.

“In today’s hearing, the police did not add Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the BNS to the case. They gave the same reasons which they gave earlier to get judicial custody. The weapon and clothes have been recovered and they’ve sent it to the forensic lab. From an investigation point-of-view, there was no reason to get his custody extended today. The accused’s presence or custody is required only when something has to be shown to him and not for recovery of the weapon. Just because the matter is so hyped up, the court took it into consideration and granted a 5-day extended custody,” Shikhane said.

“After the attack at Khan’s residence on January 16, the police had released visuals of a suspect as seen on the building’s CCTV footage. The accused has claimed that he is not the man in the CCTV footage and has denied the allegations against him. The jawline, nose and hair of the suspect didn’t match the accused,” Shikhane said.

He said that the police already seized all of the accused belongings after his arrest on Sunday. “Regarding the SIM card, an application can be made to the telecom network company for the call detail record (CDR). Why does the accused need to be in custody for that?” the accused’s lawyer asked.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Maharashtra state Congress president Nana Patole raised doubts about the Mumbai police probe into the attack on Saif Ali Khan, questioning whether the arrested accused is the same person whose face was captured in the CCTV footage.

“The Mumbai police arrested a Bangladeshi illegal immigrant in connection with the attack. According to the police, the illegal immigrant had entered the actor’s Bandra house and stabbed him multiple times. Earlier, the police had detained two lookalikes but released them later. There are reports that the face caught on the CCTV camera at the actor’s apartment and the one arrested by the police are not the same person. Also, the father of the Bangladeshi immigrant accused also told a Bengali TV news channel that the person seen in the CCTV footage is not his son. The father has alleged that his son “is being framed in the case”.