Mumbai:
The man who stabbed Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan at his Mumbai residence early Thursday morning had also threatened his domestic staff before the alleged attack. In a police statement, Mr Khan’s domestic staff said the knife-wielding attacker – who is on the run and was seen near the Bandra railway station hours after the incident – also demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore.
Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times, including in his neck, at his apartment in the posh Bandra West neighbourhood around 2:30 am. He is said to be out of danger following an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital where he was reportedly rushed by one of his sons – Ibrahim Ali Khan – in an auto-rickshaw after his car was delayed.
Eliyama Philip – a nurse caring for Mr Khan’s four-year-old son Jehangir (also known as Jeh) – and another staffer were also injured in the attack.
Intruder Enters Saif Ali Khan’s House
Saif Ali Khan and his family members – his wife and fellow actor Kareena Kapoor, and their two sons, Jeh and eight-year-old Taimur – were home in the 12-floor apartment along with their five house helps when the attacker entered the house.
In a statement to the police, Ms Philip, who claimed she has been with the Khan household for four years, said she was the first to spot the intruder – who was between 35-40 years old – at Mr Khan’s apartment on the 11th floor.
A view of the 12-storey building, Satguru Sharan, in which Saif Ali Khan was attacked
Photo Credit: ANI
She said she had been woken by noises in the house around 2 am – three hours after Jehangir had been put to bed. She told the police the attacker first entered Jeh’s room.
Ms Philip said she saw the bathroom door ajar and the light on and first assumed that Ms Kapoor Khan was checking in on her younger son.
“… then I went back to sleep but, again, I realised something was wrong. So I woke up again and saw a man come out of the bathroom and go into the boy’s room.”
“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, nobody will go out” in Hindi,” Ms Philip said.
When I rushed to pick up Jeh, the man – who was armed with a wooden stick and a long Hexa blade – ran towards me and tried attacking me, she said.
“I tried to block the attack by putting my hand forward, but the blade hit me near the wrists of both my hands and on the middle finger of my left hand,” she said.
“At that time, I asked him, “What do you want?”. Then he said, “I want money.” I asked, “How much do you want?” Then he said in English, “One crore”,” 56-year-old Philip recalled in her police statement.
Saif Ali Khan’s Encounter With Intruder
Hearing Ms Philip’s scream, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan rushed out of their room. When Mr Khan asked him “what do you want?”, he attacked him with a wooden object and the hexa blade, Ms Philip said in her police statement.
“Saif Sir somehow managed to get away from him and we all ran out of the room and pulled the door of the room,” she said, adding that everyone then went to the upper floor of their home.
The intruder later managed to escape, she said.
Suspect in Saif Ali Khan knife attack incident
According to police sources, there was no sign of forced entry, nor was anyone captured on CCTV entering the premises in the two hours before the attack.
According to police sources, the intruder – who entered the actor’s home to commit burglary – had scaled the wall of an adjacent compound to enter the premises. Officials said the intruder was familiar with the layout of the building and took the stairs on the rear side of the building to reach the floor where the actor lives.
He then entered Mr Khan’s home through the fire escape.
Mumbai Police has formed 20 teams to arrest the accused, who was captured on CCTV cameras on the sixth floor while fleeing.
