Man Detained As 'Saif's Attacker' In Chhattisgarh's Durg Loses Job, Marriage Proposal: 'RPF Released My Photo...'

Kanojia was travelling from Mumbai to Bilaspur to meet his prospective bride when he was detained by railway protection force officers at Durg railway station.

RPF released picture of Akash Kanojia after he was detained from Durg, Chhattisgarh in connection with actor Saif Ali Khan's attack case.

Source : ANI

An incorrect alert by the Railway Protection Force to the Mumbai Police about finding the suspect who attacked Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has caused damage to 31-year-old Akash Kailash Kanojia's personal and professional life, costing him not just his job, but marriage as well.

Kanojia was detained by the RPF at the Durg Railway station on January 18 when he was travelling from Mumbai to Bilaspur by Jnaneswar Exrpress to meet his prospective bride. The RPF had alerted the Mumbai Police, claiming to have found the man behind the burglary attempt at Khan's Bandra residence on January 16, which left him seriously injured.

“The RPF personnel not only apprehended me, they also issued a press release with my photograph, which was shown widely by television channels and media outlets. As a result, the bride’s family cancelled the meeting with me and my employer terminated my services,” Kanojia told Hindustan Times.

Kanojia worked as driver at a tour company which works with Western Railway in Mumbai. He had received a call from Mumbai police on January 17, asking him where he was. He said that the officer disconnected the call when he told him he was not at home.

"The next day, I boarded Jnaneswari Express from Mumbai hoping to visit my ailing grandmother in our native place Nehla in Chhattisgarh. I was supposed to change trains in Bilaspur to go to Nehla and was slated to meet the family of my prospective bride later," he told HT.

'Told Police I Had Nothing To Do With Attack'

When Jnaneswari Express reached Durg junction at around 10:00 AM on January 18, the RPF personnel detained him on suspicion of being the absconding attacker. He was taken to Raipur from there. Almost twelve hours later, the Mumbai police team reached there and told him that he would be brought back to Mumbai the following day for further investigation.

Kanojia claimed that he had requested the police to check footage from CCTVs installed near his house to confirm he was at his home and had nothing to do with the attack on Khan. "I told the police that I had nothing to do with the attack on Saif Ali Khan and offered to make them speak with my relatives. I also told them that they could check footage from CCTVs installed near my house to clarify their doubts. But they did not pay any heed – instead, they took my photos and circulated them in the media, claiming I was the attacker," Kanojia said.

"The police failed to notice a simple thing – that I have moustache, while the person captured in CCTV cameras installed in Saif Ali Khan’s building did not have one. Yet. I had to go through this ordeal," he told HT.

However, police later nabbed an alleged Bangladeshi national Shariful Islam Shehzad from Thane on the night of January 18, claiming he was the one who had broken into the actor’s residence to commit a robbery.

Thereafter, police officials released Kanojia the next morning and told him that he was free to proceed to his grandmother’s place. When he urged them to take him to Mumbai, fearing they might follow his trail and question him in front of his family members and relatives, the police turned down his plea, Kanojia told HT.

"When I spoke to my mother (in Mumbai) after being released, she seemed very worried as my photo had been shown on all news channels and asked me to return home immediately. The next day, when I called my employer, he asked me to stop reporting for work, saying, ‘You are in legal trouble and I don’t want to get into trouble because of you’. I tried explaining the matter to him but he wasn’t willing to hear me out," he said.

'Don't Think I Will Be Able To Get Married'

Kanojia further recalled receiving his grandmother's call around this time, informing him that the family of his prospective bride had refused to go ahead as they were unsure of the marriage proposal after seeing his photo on news channels. "After what has happened, I am not sure if I will be able to get married in future," he said.

He further said that things were finally starting to look good for his family after a long time, but this episode changed that. "My brother died some time back after prolonged medical treatment, for which we had to sell whatever we had, including our house in Virar. My father’s garage in Colaba was also shut down after somebody cheated him of ₹9 lakh and fled the country," Kanojia added, hoping "the courts will eventually clear me of all the charges."

Kanojia wants photos identifying him as the attacker be pulled down from the internet, for which he has also approached a lawyer, though he can barely afford any expenses.