A man who was wrongly identified by Mumbai Police as the attacker of actor Saif Ali Khan says the police action has left his life in complete disarray as he lost his job and prospective bride backtracked from marriage.
Akash Kanojia (31) was detained from Jnaneshwari Express at Durg station in Chhattisgarh by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on January 18 following a tip off from the Mumbai police.
He was released after the arrest of Bangladeshi national Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir alias Vijay Das from Thane.
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"My family was left shocked and in tears after media started showing my pictures and claimed I was the main suspect in the case. One mistake of the Mumbai police ruined my life. They failed to notice I had a moustache and the person in the CCTV grab from the actor's building did not," Kanojia told news agency PTI.
Kanojia said he was travelling to meet his prospective bride when he was arrested by the RPF at Durg. He also accused the Mumbai Police personnel of assaulting him when they got his custody from the railway police.
Kanojia said his life was ruined after the incident as he was sacked from his job.
"When I called my employer, he asked me not to report to work. He refused to listen to my explanation. My grandmother then told me the family of my prospective bride had refused to go ahead with marriage talks following my detention," he said.
Kanojia admits there were two cases against him—one at Cuffe Parade and another at Gurgaon.
"But it doesn't mean I can be pulled up as a suspect in such a manner and then be left in the lurch. I plan to stand outside Saif Ai Khan's building and seek a job as I have lost everything because of what happened to him," Kanojia said.
Khan was attacked with a knife at his residence in Bandra by the intruder in the early hours of January 16, forcing him to undergo a surgery at Lilavati Hospital. He was discharged on January 21.
According to police, the accused Bangladeshi national illegally entered India seven months ago and used a West Bengal resident's Aadhaar card to procure a SIM before moving to Mumbai. He changed his name to Vijay Das and had been residing in Mumbai for over five months, working odd jobs and associated with a housekeeping agency.
