Mumbai Police on Friday said that the accused involved in the attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was last seen near Bandra railway station and that the search is on to nab him.
Police suspect that after the incident, the suspect caught the first local train in the morning and headed towards Vasai Virar. Mumbai Police teams are searching in Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar areas, an official said.
Earlier today, Mumbai Police said that they have taken possession of a portion of the blade extracted from Saif's back, while efforts to recover the remaining part are still underway, reported ANI.
Meanwhile, the Lilavati Hospital said that the actor's family and the doctors will decide later in the day whether to move the actor to a normal ward from the ICU.
An intruder attacked Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan in his 11th-floor highrise apartment in upscale Bandra around 2:30 am on Thursday. The incident occurred when the intruder allegedly confronted the actor's maid. Saif attempted to intervene and calm the situation, but it turned into a violent altercation, leading to the actor sustaining multiple stab wounds.
Saif's son, Ibrahim Ali Khan, rushed the actor to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove a 2.5-inch knife lodged in his spine and repair spinal fluid leakage. Doctors confirmed that the actor sustained a major injury to his thoracic spinal cord. While he is "out of danger," he is being closely monitored and is currently recovering in the ICU.
Mumbai police registered an FIR regarding the attack on the Dil Chahta Hain actor and recorded the statement of the complainant, who is the maid employed by the actor.
In the complaint, it is alleged that the attacker demanded ₹1 crore from the family. According to the complainant, during the scuffle, the intruder attacked her with a blade, resulting in injuries on her wrist.
"He ran towards me with something like wood in his left hand and a long, thin hexa blade in his right hand; during the scuffle, he tried to attack me with the blade. When I tried to protect myself by moving my hand forward, something like a knife hit my wrist near both my hands and the middle finger of my left hand. At that time, I asked him, "What do you want?" Then he said, "I need money, I asked how much." Then he said in English, 'One crore'," the statement read.
In the recorded statement, the house help mentioned that the incident happened at 2 am on January 16. "When I looked again, I saw a shadow at the bathroom door, and as I bent down to see who might be inside, one person came out and went towards their (Saif Ali Khan's) son," the statement added.
She further said, "He attacked Saif with a wooden object in his hand and a hexa blade... We all ran out of the room and pulled the door and then we all ran towards him. Hearing the sound, Ramesh, Hari, Ramu and Paswan who were sleeping came out. When we took him to the room again, the door of the room was open."
Dixit Gedam, DCP Zone 9 of Mumbai Police, who is part of the team investigating an attack on Saif, said that the incident was a “robbery attempt” and the accused used a fire escape staircase to enter Saif Ali Khan's house.
Gedam said, “Last night, the accused used a fire escape staircase to enter Saif Ali Khan's house. It appears to be a robbery attempt. We working to arrest the accused. Ten detection teams are working on the case. An offence has been registered in Bandra Police Station.”
(With inputs from ANI)
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