Mumbai:

The knife attack on Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan – which doctors at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital said left him with six stab wounds, including one near his spinal cord – was not real, Maharashtra Ports Minister Nitesh Rane has alleged, in shocking comments a day after the 54-year-old actor was discharged and returned home.

He accused Mr Khan – whom he seemed to refer to as “garbage” – of “dancing while walking” out of the hospital, and ranted, “I doubted if he had been stabbed… or if he was acting.”

“Look at what Bangladeshis are doing in Mumbai. They entered Saif Ali Khan’s house. Earlier they used to stand at road crossings… now they have started entering houses. Maybe he came to take him (Mr Khan) away. It is good… garbage should be taken away,” the BJP leader said.

#WATCH | Pune: Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane says, “Look at what Bangladeshis are doing in Mumbai. They entered Saif Ali Khan’s house. Earlier they used to stand at the crossings of the roads, now they have started entering houses. Maybe he came to take him (Saif) away. It is… pic.twitter.com/XUBwpwQ6RQ

— ANI (@ANI) January 23, 2025

“I saw when he came out of the hospital. I doubted whether he had been stabbed, or he was acting. He was dancing while walking,” he was quoted by news agency ANI.

READ | “If Knife Was 2 mm Deeper…”: Doctors Say Saif Out Of ICU

The crass, and incendiary, comments didn’t end there.

Rane also hit out at NCP leaders Jitendra Awhad and Supriya Sule, accusing them of showing concern only “whenever any Khan, like Shah Rukh Khan or Saif Ali Khan, gets hurt”.

“… everyone starts talking about it then. When a Hindu actor like Sushant Singh Rajput is tortured, no one comes forward to say anything… that Mumbra’s Jeetuddin (a crude reference to Mr Awhad) and Baramati’s Tai (Ms Sule) did not come forward to say anything…”

READ | Held Tightly, Attacker Stabbed Saif In Back To Free Himself: Sources

“Have you ever seen them worrying about any Hindu artist?”

Ajit Pawar Responds

The comments were shrugged off by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who said, “I don’t know what he said… but if he has something on his mind, he can tell the Home Department.” Mumbai Police reports to the state’s Home Ministry, which is led by Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.

“The truth, at the moment, is that the person has been arrested. That person had come from Bangladesh… everyone has an attraction towards Mumbai.”

“He needed to go back to Bangladesh after seeing Mumbai (but) needed money,” Mr Pawar said, suggesting Shehzad may have been trying to steal cash to buy a ticket home.

Mr Khan’s nanny had said Shehzad demanded Rs 1 crore when confronted.

READ | Attacker Entered Room Of Saif’s Son Jeh, Wanted Rs 1 Crore: Sources

“Perhaps yesterday, when Saif Ali Khan was going home, looking at his health and clothes it was difficult to guess he was attacked a few days ago. But what happened was true,” Mr Pawar said.

Sanjay Nirupam’s Shocker Too

However, it wasn’t just Nitesh Rane making such comments.

Sanjay Nirupam, who was with the Congress before switching to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction, said, “… the way Saif came out… it seemed nothing happened six days ago.”

Bangladeshi National Arrested

Mr Khan was attacked, the police believe, by Shariful Shehzad, a Bangladeshi national living illegally in India. The cops also believe Shehzad, who said he didn’t know he was in the actor’s home, was trying to burgle it when he was confronted, first by the nanny and then Mr Khan.

Shehzad has been arrested and is in police custody; he was tracked down to Thane after leading the cops on a long-winded chase through parts of Mumbai as he tried to return to Bangladesh.

READ | Paratha By UPI Payment: How Cops Caught Saif Attack Suspect

The lawyer representing Shehzad has argued the allegations are false and that his client is being made a scapegoat because a celebrity is involved. “… nothing (incriminating) has been recovered from him.”

READ | Saif Attacker Jailed For 5 Days, Claims He Is Being Framed

“They have not produced any document to prove he is a Bangladeshi national,” his lawyer said. However, the suspect himself reportedly told cops, “…haan, maine hi kiya hai (yes, I did it)”.

With input from agencies

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Mumbai:

Police on Sunday said they have arrested a Bangladeshi national for stabbing Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan at his Mumbai residence. Preliminary investigation suggests the man – Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir – was unaware that he had entered Mr Khan’s house and his intention was theft, a senior police official told reporters after his arrest.

Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times, including in his neck, at his apartment in the posh Bandra West neighbourhood early Thursday morning.

What We Know About Man Who Stabbed Saif Ali Khan

Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla, 30, was arrested from Hiranandani Estate on Ghodbandar Road in neighbouring Thane district. Police said he entered India illegally and had been living in Mumbai for the past four months.

He changed his name to Bijoy Das after entering India.

Rohilla is a bachelor and used to work at a housekeeping agency. He, however, was unemployed for some months.

He used to live in a rented house with some friends in Mumbai’s Worli.

Attack On Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan was stabbed multiple times and was rushed to the city’s Lilavati Hospital in an autorickshaw where he underwent emergency surgery.

The 54-year-old was attacked when he was with his family members – his wife and fellow actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, and their two sons, four-year-old Jeh and eight-year-old Taimur – at their residence in the 12-floor apartment – Satguru Sharan – in Bandra.

Eliyama Philip – a nurse caring for Jeh – and another staffer were also injured in the attack.

A 2.5-inch piece of the blade was removed from Mr Khan’s spine after a five-hour-long surgery. He is recovering well, doctors treating him said Friday.

Mumbai Police had formed about 30 teams to arrest the accused, who was also captured on CCTV cameras in the building.

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.