LIVE | Knife attack on Saif: Intruder entered son Jeh’s room, demanded Rs 1 crore
Actor sustained six stab injuries including one on his left hand and another on his neck;
Actor Saif Ali Khan, who on Thursday (January 16) sustained six stab injuries after being repeatedly stabbed by an intruder at his Bandra West home, has been declared out of danger by doctors of Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital following surgery.
Speaking to reporters, Lilavati Hospital's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dr Niraj Uttamani said Saif, 54, was on the path of recovery following the emergency surgery and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital.
"We removed a 2.5-inch piece of knife from the spine," Uttamani said adding that the actor had two severe and two intermediate injuries and as many abrasions.
The injuries were deep, however, doctors at the hospital managed to do the surgery well, he said, adding that a neurosurgery and a plastic surgery have been performed.
‘Major injury to thoracic spine’
Dr Nitin Dange, neurosurgeon at the Lilavati Hospital, said Khan had sustained a major injury to his "thoracic spine." "He sustained a major injury to his thoracic spine due to a knife lodged in his spine. Surgery was performed to remove the knife and also to repair the leaking spinal fluid. There were two other deep wounds on his left hand and right side of the neck which were repaired by the plastic surgery team," he said.
"Khan is completely stable now. He is in recovery mode and is completely out of danger. We will shift him out of the ICU tomorrow morning and maybe plan a discharge in a day or two," he added.
While several Bollywood actors have offered sympathies to the actor’s family, Opposition politicians have lashed out at the Devendra Fadnavis government for allegedly failing to maintain law and order situation in the state.
Not right to call Mumbai unsafe: CM Fadnavis
Many have also linked the attack to the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s house and the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique last year.
Fadnavis, while dubbing the attack as a serious incident, has, however, said that it doesn’t signify that Mumbai is unsafe.
“I think Mumbai is the safest among mega cities in the country. It is true that some incidents take place sometimes, and they must be taken seriously. But to say that Mumbai is unsafe due to such incidents is not right,” he told the media.
Also read | Saif attack: How did intruder breach 4 levels of security?
Suspect sneaked into house, shows CCTV footage
Meanwhile, Mumbai Police said they have identified the suspect and would disclose more details once the arrest is made.
CCTV visuals of the unidentified intruder have been traced and 10 teams have been formed to investigate the offence, police said.
As per the preliminary probe, the intruder did not force his entry or break into the actor's 12th floor flat in Satguru Sharan building, but possibly sneaked in at some point earlier in the night, a police official said.
After the incident that took place around 2.30 am, the attacker took the staircase to escape. His CCTV visuals were traced on the sixth floor, police sources said.
Khan’s house help injured
Khan's house-help, who raised initial alarm, suffered a minor knife injury during the scuffle. She later visited the police station to lodge a complaint for alleged attempted murder and trespassing. Police, however, did not confirm the sections under which the FIR was registered.
The actor's representatives, in a media statement, said it was a "burglary attempt."
How the attack happened?
The incident occurred at around 2.30 am on Thursday. Saif, 54, was asleep on the 11th floor of his residence in Bandra (West) when some sounds woke him up.
He found the intruder having a confrontation with one of the maids. When the actor tried to intervene and pacify the intruder, the latter allegedly attacked him in a fit of rage, stabbing Saif six times before fleeing the scene.
Saif’s wife Kareena Kapoor Khan was out for dinner with sister Karishma Kapoor and friends Sonam and Rhea Kapoor on Wednesday evening and returned home at around 1.30 AM.
As the family gathered around a bleeding Saif, his son Ibrahim, not wanting to waste time waiting for the car, hailed an auto-rickshaw to rush his father to the Lilavati Hospital, roughly 2.2 km from Saif’s residence.
Bandra Police have said they received a call about the attack at 3 am. The actor was brought to Lilavati Hospital at around 3.30 am.
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#WATCH | Delhi | On the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan, AAP national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar says, "Arvind Kejriwal asked why the BJP government failed to maintain law and order in any state... Instead of giving answers, former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad held a press… pic.twitter.com/vcAGfZ6kta
— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2025
“No one is safe in a city like Mumbai anymore... If someone can go to the 11th floor of a residential building of a big actor and attack him at night, it shows that Mumbai is no longer safe for anyone... Even Baba Siddiqui was shot dead... This reflects an attitude that prioritises self-interests over addressing the safety concerns of society...," says Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel.
Police quoting testimony given by a nurse at Saif’s house said that the attacker entered his younger son Jeh’s room.
A TOI report quoting Eliyama Philip, a 56-year-old nurse employed at the household, said that the intruder entered four-year-old Jeh’s room while he was asleep.
Philip said the intruder was armed with a stick and a sharp blade and demanded Rs 1 crore from him. When she resisted he assaulted her, causing injuries to her wrists and hand. The altercation woke up the nanny Junu, who raised an alarm. This caused Saif and wife Kareena to rush to the spot, the report says.
Saif tried to confront the intruder and was attacked.
Saif's sister Saba Pataudi said she is in "shock" but proud of her elder brother for the way he defended his family from an intruder.
"I'm in shock and reeling from this insane incident but proud of you bhaijaan. Taking care of the family and standing tall would make Abba so proud. I am. Get well soon. Missing being there. Will see you soon. Duas and prayers always," Saba said in a post on Instagram where she also shared a childhood photo with Saif.
Saba, 49, is the middle child of actor Sharmila Tagore and the late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Her younger sister is actor Soha Ali Khan.
#WATCH | Mumbai | On the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan, his neighbour and AIMIM leader Waris Pathan says, "Such incidents happening in a posh area of Mumbai like Bandra, where many film stars live, show that the administration has completely failed... Such an attack happening on… pic.twitter.com/3KXCM8QBt7
— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2025
#WATCH | Mumbai: On the attack on actor #SaifAliKhan, actor Urvashi Rautela says, "...It is very unfortunate...This creates an insecurity that anybody can attack us. What happened is very unfortunate...All my prayers are with them (Saif Ali Khan and his family)." pic.twitter.com/fcLtGsWSvG— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2025
While police are yet to identify the attacker, they have released a CCTV footage of him going down the building’s staircase, to the media.
The CCTV footage, the attacker is seen alighting from the stairwell of the actor’s building at around 2.33 am on Thursday. The suspect is dressed in jeans and t-shirt and seems to be carrying a backpack.
While police have dubbed it a burglary attempt, some reports said the attacker was related to one of the staff at Saif’s house. The staffer is being questioned.