Mumbai:
As Saif Ali Khan recovers from a shock knife attack by an intruder last night, police are piecing together the sequence of events at the 54-year-old’s Bandra home before he reached Lilavati hospital, bleeding from six stab injuries, one of them in his spine.
The actor, his wife and actor Kareena Kapoor Khan and their sons live in a 12-storey building in Bandra West, home to many Bollywood actors. Their residence is spread over four floors.
Police have said that the probe so far has found that the attacker entered the actor’s home to commit burglary. According to police sources, the intruder entered the compound next to the building where the actor stays. He then scaled the wall to cross over.
Once inside the compound, the intruder took a flight of stairs on the rear side of the building to reach the floor on which the actor lives. Police have said the intruder gained access to Mr Khan’s apartment through a fire escape. Follow LIVE UPDATES here
According to reports, Mr Khan’s house help Eliyama Phillipes alias Lima was the first to spot the intruder around 2 am last night. She screamed and this alerted Mr Khan. A fight between the actor and the intruder followed. The intruder stabbed Mr Khan six times before escaping the spot. CCTV cameras have captured him entering and exiting the building from the rear side, sources in police said. Police are questioning the house help, among others.
There are glaring questions about the response of the security guards on duty at the high-profile building and how the intruder managed to enter the actor’s home undetected.
Mr Khan has suffered six stab injuries and is currently out of danger, doctors have said. “Mr. Saif Ali Khan was admitted to the hospital around 2AM with alleged history of assault by some unknown person. He sustained severe injuries to the thoracic spinal cord due to a lodged knife in the spine. Emergency surgery was performed to remove the knife and repair leaking spinal fluid. Two other deep wounds on his left hand and one other on his neck were repaired by the plastic surgery team,” Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital said.
“I am happy to confirm that Mr. Saif Ali Khan is completely stable now. He is recovering well and out of danger now,” he added.
Police have said they have identified a suspect and multiple teams are trying to arrest him.
Senior police officer Dixit Gedam said, “It has been discovered that the accused used the fire escape to enter their house. So far, the investigation suggests that it was an attempted burglary. We are making every effort to arrest the accused as soon as possible. Once he is arrested, we will be able to disclose further details.”
