Mumbai, Jan 16 (IANS) For the family of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, Thursday started with a violent commotion. The actor, who was woken up during the wee hours of Thursday, was in for a shock when he found that a robber had barged in his house through the room of the youngest member of the family, his son, Jeh.
What he saw was enough to set his adrenaline pumping to fight off the assailant, who brandished a knife. In an attempt to save his house help, and his family, Saif dove head first and unarmed into a scuffle with the robber. The physical confrontation with the robber came with its consequences as the actor sustained six stab wounds, two of which would send his family into panic mode, with the knife inserted roughly 2.5 inches into the wound, Saif managed to fight off the assailant with bare hands as the latter ran off from the scene.
With one trouble out of the window, the Khan family now had a bigger trouble to cater to, a heavily injured Saif with two stab wounds near his spinal cord.
The actor was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital in the Bandra area of Mumbai by his domestic staff, as per a source.
His wife, Kareena Kapoor Khan, who had returned from a girls’ party prior to the scuffle, held the fort at their residence, Satguru Sharan, as her husband went to the hospital.
The actor was taken to the operation theatre for an emergency surgery to remove the foreign object from his body.
By 8:30 am, the actor’s manager issued a statement about his condition, as the manager said, “There was an attempted burglary at Mr Saif Ali Khan’s residence. He is currently in hospital undergoing surgery. We request the media and fans to be patient. It is a police matter. We will keep you updated on the situation”.
The next few hours at the Lilavati Hospital witnessed media personnel coming out in droves to get minute to minute updates on the actor. The preliminary probe set in motion by Mumbai police stated that the intruder did not force his entry or break into the actor's 12th floor flat in the actor’s residence but possibly sneaked in at some point earlier in the night.
By 9:30 am, Kareena’s team shared a statement with the media urging the fraternity to not speculate further and wait for the police probe.
A statement issued by the actress’s team, said, “There was an attempted burglary in Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s residence last night. Saif had an injury on his arm for which he is in hospital, undergoing a procedure. The rest of the family is doing fine. We request the media and fans to be patient and not speculate any further as the Police are already doing their due investigations. Thank you all for your concern. Team Kareena Kapoor Khan”.
As the day progressed, Saif was pronounced out of danger and was said to be stable and on his path to recovery. As the actor was monitored closely by a team of medical professionals, they said, “Saif Ali Khan has come out of surgery and is out of danger. He is currently in recovery and the doctors are monitoring his progress. All family members are safe and the police are investigating the incident”.
Doctor Nitin Dange, who was part of the surgery, told the media, “Saif Ali Khan was admitted in at 2:00 am. He sustained major injury to the spinal cord, in the thoracic spinal cord due to the lodged knife in the spine. Surgery was performed to remove the knife and also repair the leaking spinal fluid. Two other deep wounds on his left hand and neck were repaired by the plastic surgery team. He is completely stable now and recovering well”.
However, the incident sparked a political debate with the opposition targeting the ruling Maha Yuti alliance over the law and order situation in the state capital as this was the second instance of an attack on a celebrity after politician Baba Siddique was gunned down in October last year incidentally in the Bandra area of Mumbai.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, “It shows that the law and order situation in Maharashtra is deteriorating. Recently, a person was killed in the same area and now this incident. All these things are worrisome”. UBT leader Sanjay Raut and Cong leader Varsha Gaikwaid also expressed shock over the incident and raised question over law and order under Maha Yuti aliance.
The cops later identified the assailant after rummaging through the CCTV footage of the building. The case, classified as an attempted robbery, has prompted an extensive investigation involving 10 police teams. Mumbai police have also released the picture of the attacker captured in the CCTV footage to help nab the attacker through the help of local people.
Later, in the evening when Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis was asked to comment on the law and order situation in the city, and the attack on the actor, he called it a serious incident but asserted that it would be wrong to label Mumbai as unsafe. The CM assured the media that police were taking action and the government would implement measures to enhance the safety of the nation's financial capital.
He said, “Mumbai’s image is tarnished by such remarks. However, the government is committed to making the city safer”.
With further developments awaited on the case, it's safe to say that the day was packed with intrigue, action and political drama for the city dwellers and the fans of the actor.
In the FIR lodged at the Bandra Police Station, the caretaker who works at the actor's house revealed some chilling details about the incident to the police. She revealed that she heard some noises around 2:00 am, when she went to check, a man came out of the bathroom and started going towards Jeh's bed. As she went to pick up Jeh, he ran towards her with something like wood. When she asked him "what do you want?", he replied, "I need money". When asked how much, he said, "one crore".
Upon hearing the commotion, Saif rushed to Jeh's room, where he was attacked by the robber wielding a wooden object and a hexa blade.
