Saif Ali Khan attacker remains at large; minister rules out underworld link, actor recovering well
The filmstar is recovering well at Lilavati Hospital, where he was taken after the brutal attack by an intruder in the early hours of Thursday that left him with multiple wounds, and is expected to be discharged in two to three days, doctors treating him said
Mumbai: The intruder who stabbed Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan at his home in Mumbai still remains at large despite more than 30 teams on the lookout for him on Friday, while a Maharashtra minister ruled out underworld link to the brutal attack.
The attacker was not working for any criminal gang and probably was not even aware whose house he had entered in, said police, citing their investigation carried out so far.
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Police picked up a carpenter in connection with the attack on Khan (54) at his apartment in the wee hours of Thursday as he resembled the intruder, and brought him to the Bandra police station for questioning on Friday morning, but released him later.
A senior police official clarified the man was not related to the attack on Khan and no one has been arrested so far.
“The person detained in the morning has been released. He was picked up as he looked like the intruder captured in the CCTV footage. But he had an alibi which was verified by the police. Based on that, the detained person has been released. Our probe is still on. We are looking at all angles,” said the senior official.
“This seems to be a stray incident. The alleged intruder was not working for any gang as per prima facie investigation. He probably was not even aware whose house he had entered in,” he added.
He said more than 30 teams have been formed to track down and nab the attacker, who stabbed Khan in his 12th floor apartment during a robbery attempt.
The attacker’s face was captured in CCTV footage. The video showed the assailant, wearing a red scarf and carrying a backpack, scurrying down the stairs from the sixth floor of the ‘Satguru Sharan’ building, where Khan lives, at around 2.30 am.
Maharashtra Minister of State for Home (Urban) Yogesh Kadam said robbery was the motive behind the incident and clarified no underworld gang was involved in the knife attack.
The filmstar is recovering well at Lilavati Hospital, where he was taken after the brutal attack by an intruder in the early hours of Thursday that left him with multiple wounds, and is expected to be discharged in two to three days, doctors treating him said.
The actor, who suffered multiple stab injuries, including in his neck, underwent an emergency surgery at Lilavati Hospital, where he was rushed in an autorickshaw.
“We are observing his progress and he is doing excellently well according to our expectations. As per his progress, we have advised him bed rest and if he is comfortable, then in two to three days we will discharge him,” said Dr Nitin Dange, neurosurgeon at Lilavati Hospital.He said a team of doctors checked on him and made him walk.
“Khan had four main wounds, which were a little deep, two in the hand, one on the neck and the most deep and dangerous was in the spine,” said the neurosurgeon, who led the team of doctors who operated on the actor.
During surgery, the doctors removed a 2.5-inch knife fragment lodged in his spine. They noted that if the knife had gone just 2 mm deeper, it could have caused a severe injury.”So, we operated and removed it. But from there, the spinal fluid was leaking. Due to that repair, we are keeping him under observation. Today he is doing excellent. Wounds are healing and he has no neurological deficit,” Dr Dange informed.
His health parameters have improved and he has been shifted from the ICU to a special room, he added.
“Today we will be keeping visitors in check, because we want him to take a rest. Only thing we have advised is that he has to take rest for some time, because of the wounds on the back especially, which can have chances of infection, and his movements are restricted for a week almost,” he said. “Besides visitors, his own movements are being restricted for a faster recovery, said the surgeon.
Doctors have removed the sharp object and done repairing of the spinal injury, he explained. An image of the sharp object, a knife blade, went viral on social media.
“He is very lucky. We repaired the leaking spinal fluid and the dura which was there. We had to do a repair, which was successful. Today when we made him walk, he was completely okay to walk. He is on a regular diet,” he maintained.
The doctor said Khan was soaked in blood, but walked into the hospital, also located in Bandra, “like a lion”. “When sir Wali sahib (referring to Khan) came to the hospital, he was covered in blood, but he walked in like a lion with his small child, that is his 6 to 7-year-old son, Taimur,” Dr Dange said.
Meanwhile, autorickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana, in whose vehicle the actor was rushed to the hospital, is hogging media limelight and is being hailed as a hero. Rana said he was not aware that the passenger with blood-soaked ‘kurta’ he ferried to Lilavati Hospital was popular actor Khan, a Padma Shri awardee.
“It was only when we reached the hospital gate that he called the guard to fetch a stretcher, saying he was Saif Ali Khan,” he told reporters. Rana said when he was passing by the 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.
