NEW DELHI: Actor Saif Ali Khan was stabbed on January 16 at his 12th-floor apartment in the upscale Bandra area in Mumbai. As the actor underwent two surgeries, got discharged after 5 days and police arrested a Bangladeshi man in connection with the attack, several angles have come up in the last eight days along with various conspiracy angles.
Here’s a look at how the Saif Ali Khan attack case has unfolded in the last few days:
Attack on Saif Ali Khan
In a startling incident, Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan suffered multiple stab wounds from an intruder who broke into his luxury Bandra flat on the 12th floor last week. The actor was taken to nearby Lilavati Hospital in an auto.
The 54-year-old actor was out of danger following an emergency surgery. Police registered a case of ‘armed robbery with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt’.
During the confrontation, Khan’s house help, who alerted others in the house about the intruder, also received a minor hand injury. She subsequently filed an official complaint with the police.
‘Attacker entered son Jeh’s room, demanded Rs 1 cr’
Eliyama Philip, aged 56, who works as a nurse at Khan’s home, described the frightening incident. The assailant, identified as a thin-built man around his late 30s with a dark complexion, made his way into the bedroom where Saif Ali Khan’s 4-year-old son, Jeh, was asleep.
Armed with a stick and a sharp blade, the perpetrator first demanded Rs 1 crore from Philip. Upon her refusal, he attacked her, resulting in injuries to her wrists and hand.
The disturbance alerted the nanny, Junu, who called for help, leading Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan to hurry to the location. Saif Ali Khan, while protecting his family, engaged with the assailant but suffered injuries. He received cuts on his neck, shoulder, back, and wrist. The assailant escaped before additional household staff could arrive at the scene.
Injured Saif’s auto ride to hospital
After being injured, the actor went to Lilavati Hospital in an auto as no driver was available at that time. The auto driver, who took Saif to the hospital said when he was passing by the Satguru Darshan building where the actor stayed, a woman and a few others asked him to stop the rickshaw.
“Then the person whose white kurta was soaked in blood got in the auto. I noticed he had neck and back injuries, but did not notice the hand injury,” he said.
“He (Saif) walked into the auto. There was a seven-eight year old boy who also boarded the rickshaw,” he said, when asked if the actor’s son Taimur accompanied him to the hospital.
“When we reached the hospital, he called out to the guard at the gate and told him: Please bring a stretcher. I am Saif Ali Khan,” he said, adding the auto reached the hospital around 3 am.
Later, Saif met driver Bhajan Singh Rana to thank him for his timely help and offered him financial support.
3-day manhunt and the arrest
Initially, the Mumbai Police picked up a carpenter who had worked at Saif Ali Khan’s flat two days before the stabbing incident. How was, however, let go the same day. Two days later, a man was held in Chhattisgarh and brought to Mumbai for questioning. Police later said he was just a suspect and later released.
After a three-day manhunt, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad was arrested and sent to five-day police custody by the court. According to police, Shehzad, a Bangladesh national, had entered the actor’s house intending to commit theft. However, the situation escalated when he was spotted by a house help in the room of Saif’s younger son, Jeh.
Police said that the accused, who was arrested from Thane on January 19, entered the country illegally seven months ago and used a West Bengal resident’s Aadhaar card to procure a SIM before moving to Mumbai.
How Shehzad entered and fled from the apartment
Shehzad gained access to the actor’s residence by climbing over the compound wall while the security personnel were asleep, according to police reports. He accessed the premises through the main entrance, which lacked CCTV surveillance, as per a police official’s statement.
Upon noticing the sleeping security guards, he scaled the boundary wall. The intruder then stored his footwear in his bag to minimise noise and deactivated his mobile phone, the official added.
“During the probe, the police found that there are no CCTV cameras installed in the building’s corridor. The investigation revealed that one of the two security guards was sleeping in the cabin and the other near the gate,” an official said.
Why Kareena didn’t accompany Saif to hospital
Initially, there were questions regarding Saif’s spouse, actress Kareena Kapoor Khan’s location during the incident. Later, news agency IANS reported that she was inebriated after attending a party at actress Sonam Kapoor‘s house.
News agency IANS reported that Kareena arrived home heavily intoxicated. Concerns about potential media exposure through leaked photographs and recordings, coupled with questions about her condition at the hospital and police station, influenced her decision to remain private. Following the incident, she sought refuge at her sister Karisma Kapoor’s residence.
‘Intruder got aggressive,’ Kareena tells police
In her statement, Kareena told authorities that while the intruder became violent during the confrontation, he left untouched the exposed jewellery.
In her statement, Kareena mentioned that when the attack happened, she sent the children Taimur and Jehangir along with the women to the 12th floor. Saif tried to protect them.
When Saif intervened, the attacker couldn’t reach their younger son Jahangir, also called Jeh.
Kareena told the police that the attacker did not steal anything from the house and was very aggressive. He attacked Saif multiple times.
She added that she went to her sister Karisma’s house after the attack. “After the attack, I was terrified, so Karisma took me to her house,” she had said.
Actor back at home, security increased
The actor was finally discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. The actor was seen waving for the cameras as he reached home. The Mumbai Police is providing temporary protection to Saif, Kareena and their two kids – Taimur and Jeh.
Meanwhile, the actor has added personal security cover and hired a security firm owned by actor Ronit Roy for the job. The agency workers were seen installing CCTV cameras at Saif’s building entrance.
Missing weapon piece found, police recreate crime scene
Bandra police have finally recovered the final missing section of the knife that broke during the assault. The suspect had disposed of it near Bandra Talao on SV Road, approximately 1.4km from the actor’s home.
“A three-inch piece of the knife which got stuck inside Saif’s back was recovered after it was removed during the surgery. The second small piece with blood on it was found in his house during the panchnama carried out after the crime. The final big portion with the handle was found near the talao,” stated a Bandra police station officer.
The police also took the accused to recreate the crime scene at Saif’s residence. “He showed us where he had disposed of the knife after walking 1.4km (around 25 minutes) from Saif’s building. After discarding the knife, he walked 650 metres to a restaurant on Linking Road before proceeding to the bus stop outside National College where he slept. In the morning he walked to Bandra railway station to catch a train for Dadar at 8 am before heading to Worli and then to Thane,” explained a police officer.
The investigation team has obtained Fakir’s clothing worn during and after the incident. “We have recovered the shirt and cap that Fakir wore as mentioned by Saif’s stay-at-home nurse, Eliyamma Phillip, in her complaint. The team also found the scarf and all pieces of the knife. The recovered material will be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory. Fakir had stolen the knife from the Thane restaurant where he worked,” the officer concluded.
The conspiracy theories
Since the day of the attack, several questions have been raised regarding the stabbing incident. Questions have been raised regarding the attack being an inside job. It is said that the door was kept open for the suspect by someone already present at the home. Police, however, have found no proof of forced entry inside the house.
In the latest, Maharashtra cabinet minister Nitesh Rane has raised questions about if the attack was real. Rane said, “The way Saif came out of the hospital, I am wondering if he was really attacked or is he acting.”
Meanwhile, police, while seeking custody of the accused, had also cited an international conspiracy angle in the court. Police told court that the alleged attacker was a Bangladeshi national and there was a need to find the motive behind his act. Police also told the court that they needed to find out if there was an international conspiracy linked to the case.
