Mumbai:
A nurse caring for Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor’s younger son Jehangir (Jeh), Eliyama Philips – who first encountered the intruder that stabbed Mr Khan – has described the accused as a 35 to 40 years old man with a dark complexion. According to Ms Philps, the attacker has a slim build and is approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall.
At the time of the incident, the attacker was wearing dark-coloured pants and a shirt with a cap on his head, she told the police.
“If I see the said man again, I will recognise him,” Ms Philips said.
Saif Ali Khan and his family members – wife and actor Kareena Kapoor, and their two sons Jeh and Taimur – were in the house when the attacker entered the 12th-floor apartment during the early hours of Thursday. Mr Khan’s five house helpers were also inside the house. According to Ms Philip, she was the first to spot the intruder on the 11th floor.
“I saw the bathroom door ajar and the light on…At first I assumed Kareena Kapoor was checking in on her son. I went back to sleep but soon realised something was wrong. I got up again to check when I saw a man come out of the bathroom and go into Jeh and Taimur’s room,” the nanny narrated.
At this point, she confronted the attacker, following which he demanded Rs 1 crore.
“I quickly got up and went to Jeh’s room. The attacker then put his finger near his mouth and said “Don’t make any noise” in Hindi…When I rushed to pick up Jeh, the intruder who was armed with a wooden stick and a long Hexa blade, ran towards me and tried attacking me,” she said.
Awakened by her screams, Mr Khan rushed to his son’s room. When he tried to confront the intruder, he was attacked multiple times. The actor’s spinal fluid leaked out after shards of the attacker’s knife lodged into his spine. According to the doctors at the Lilavati Hospital – where Mr Khan is undergoing treatment – they repaired the spinal injury and performed plastic surgeries on the actor’s hand and neck.
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What initial investigation revealed
According to the initial investigation, the attacker possibly sneaked inside Mr Khan’s house at some point earlier in the night. The suspect was last seen running away on the sixth floor of the building and was not captured in the lobby’s CCTV cameras while entering or exiting. After the sixth floor, the suspect was nowhere to be seen, nor was he caught exiting through the main entrance.
Officials suspect that the accused was familiar with the layout of the building and used the shaft and stairs to reach the 11th floor.
After the incident, the attacker immediately ran from the house and was later spotted near Bandra railway station. He likely took the first local train in the morning, officials said.
The police have registered a case under sections of robbery, trespassing, and “grievous hurt caused while committing lurking house-trespass”. 20 teams have been formed to arrest the accused. The police have also recovered a 2.5-inch portion of a knife that was taken out from Mr Khan’s spine.
Earlier today, a suspect was taken into custody after a massive manhunt that involved gathering technical data and police informers spreading out across Mumbai. Visuals showed the man being brought to the Bandra police station. However, it is not yet confirmed if the suspect is the same man who attacked Mr Khan.
