Saif Ali Khan recovering in ICU after attack; police say accused last seen near Bandra station

The Mumbai Police on Friday said that the accused involved in the attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was last seen near Bandra railway station and that the search is on to nab him, an official said.

Police suspect that after the incident, he may have caught the first local train in the morning and headed towards Vasai Virar. Mumbai Police team are searching in Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar areas, an official said.

Earlier today, Mumbai Police said that they have taken possession of a portion of the blade extracted from Saif’s back, while efforts to recover the remaining part are still underway.

Meanwhile, the Lilavati Hospital said that the actor’s family and the doctors will decide on moving the actor to a normal ward from the ICU later in the day.

Bollywood Actor Saif Ali Khan was attacked by an intruder in his 11th-floor Bandra flat at around 2:30 am on Thursday. The incident occurred when an intruder allegedly confronted the actor’s maid at his residence. As Saif attempted to intervene and de-escalate the situation, it escalated into a violent altercation, resulting in the actor sustaining several stab wounds.

Saif was immediately taken to Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital after being stabbed by the intruder. He underwent surgery under the supervision of a team of doctors there. As per doctors, Saif sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal cord due to a lodged knife in the spine, and surgery was performed to remove a 2.5-inch-long knife from the actor’s spine and repair his ‘leaking spinal fluid’. While Saif is “out of danger”, doctors are continuing to monitor him. After surgery, he was shifted to ICU, where he is currently recovering.

Mumbai police registered an FIR regarding the attack on the actor and recorded the statement of the complainant, who is the maid employed by the actor.

In the complaint, it is alleged that the attacker demanded one crore rupees from the family. According to the complainant, the intruder attacked the maid allegedly with a hexa blade, which hit both her hands.

“He ran towards me with something like wood in his left hand and a long thin hexa blade in his right hand, during the scuffle, he tried to attack me with the blade, when I tried to protect myself by moving my hand forward, something like a knife hit my wrist near both my hands and the middle finger of my left hand. At that time, I asked him “What do you want” Then he said, “I need money, I asked how much.” Then he said in English ‘One crore’,” the statement read.

In the recorded statement, the house help mentioned that the incident happened at 2 AM on January 16. “When I looked again I saw a shadow at the bathroom door, and as I bent down to see who might be inside, one person came out and went towards their (Saif Ali Khan’s) son,” the statement added.

She further said, “He attacked Saif with a wooden object in her hand and a hexa blade… We all ran out of the room and pulled the door and then we all ran towards him. Hearing the sound, Ramesh, Hari, Ramu and Paswan who were sleeping came out. When we took him to the room again, the door of the room was open.” Mumbai Police is currently investigating the matter and have formed 20 teams to track down and nab the intruder who stabbed Saif.

Dixit Gedam, DCP Zone 9 of Mumbai Police, who is part of the team investigating an attack on Saif, said that the incident was a “robbery attempt” and the accused used a fire escape staircase to enter Saif Ali Khan’s house.

Gedam said, “Last night, the accused used a fire escape staircase to enter Saif Ali Khan’s house. It appears to be a robbery attempt. We working to arrest the accused. 10 Detection teams are working on the case. An offence has been registered in Bandra Police Station.”

@ANI