Saif Ali Khan Stabbing: Suspect Detained In Chhattisgarh; Mumbai Police To Take Custody

Days after Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was repeatedly stabbed inside his Mumbai home, a suspect has been detained in Chhattisgarh.

The 54-year-old actor sustained several stab wounds, including injuries to his neck and near his spine, after an intruder entered his luxurious Bandra residence and attacked him in the early hours of Thursday.

Photo Credit: PTI; X

The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Aakash Kailash Kannojia, was apprehended at Durg railway station. The Mumbai Police is expected to arrive in the state shortly to confirm his identity.

Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials stated that the suspect was "captured from the Mumbai-Howrah Jnaneswari Express following a lead from the Mumbai Police.

At around 2 pm, when the train reached Durg, the suspect, who was in the general compartment, deboarded and was immediately taken into custody. He is currently being interrogated."

They added, "The Mumbai Police had sent the suspect's photograph, train number, and location to the RPF, which led to his capture. He is now in RPF custody."

The suspect was connected to Mumbai Police officials via video call, and a police team is on its way to Durg to confirm whether the individual detained is the same person involved in the attack. They are expected to arrive at around 8 pm. The man was travelling without a ticket.

When questioned, the suspect initially stated he was heading to Nagpur, but later changed his story, claiming he was going to Bilaspur.

The actor was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in an auto-rickshaw, where he underwent emergency surgery.

A 2.5-inch piece of the blade was removed from his spine after a five-hour-long operation. Doctors treating Saif Ali Khan confirmed that he had been stabbed six times but is recovering well.

Sources claimed that the detained passenger resembled the suspect in the actor's stabbing case and was carrying the same bag seen in CCTV footage of the incident.

The intruder had been seen inside the building - where Khan lives with his wife, actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, and their children, Taimur and Jeh - on two occasions as he ascended the stairs to reach and later flee from the apartment.

His face was captured in CCTV footage, which surfaced on Thursday, showing him wearing a red scarf and carrying a backpack, hurriedly descending the stairs at around 2.30 am.

Later in the day, he was spotted at Bandra railway station and again at Dadar railway station, raising suspicions that he had taken a train out of Mumbai.

Some reports earlier claimed the attacker had been arrested after a man was detained for questioning.

However, an official dismissed this claim, stating the man in question, a carpenter named Waris Ali Salmani, had worked at the actor's home two days prior to the attack. Salmani was informed of the stabbing by the contractor who had hired him for the carpentry work.

Kareena Kapoor Khan provided her statement to the Mumbai Police, recalling that she saw the intruder repeatedly stab Saif. "The attacker was aggressive. I saw him attack Saif repeatedly... Our priority was to take Saif to the hospital," she said.

She also mentioned that the attacker fled without taking any valuables with him.

Kapoor Khan further shared that, after the incident, she went to her sister Karisma's house because she was "terrified." In a video, Kareena was seen speaking to her house staff next to the auto-rickshaw.

"After the attack, I was terrified, so Karisma took me to her house," she explained.

More than 30 teams have been deployed to track down and apprehend the attacker. Maharashtra's Minister of State for Home (Urban), Yogesh Kadam, stated that robbery appeared to be the motive behind the attack and confirmed that no underworld gang was involved in the knife assault.