Mumbai | Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan returned home on Tuesday, a little wan but smiling broadly as he left a Mumbai hospital five days after an intruder stabbed him inside his apartment with a knife in the neck and spine.
The 54-year-old actor underwent a neurosurgery to treat a spinal injury and a plastic surgery to repair wounds on his neck and hands at Lilavati Hospital after he was stabbed by an intruder in the early hours of Thursday last week in his 12th floor flat in 'Satguru Sharan' building in upscale in Bandra.
As he exited the hospital, Khan, wearing a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans, waved to waiting cameras, his hand bandaged, and expressed heartfelt gratitude for the support he received throughout his recovery process.
Saif got into a waiting black vehicle, accompanied by security personnel. His wife, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, was also seen at the hospital shortly before he was discharged.
The Mumbai police have arrested the intruder who allegedly stabbed the Bollywood actor. The accused, identified as Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir (30), a Bangladeshi national, is at present in police custody.
The 30-year-old accused, arrested from adjoining Thane city on Sunday, has told the police he stabbed the actor in his back multiple times to free himself from his tight grip, an official said.
After the attack, the intruder escaped from Khan's flat, and hid in the garden of the building for around two hours, the official said.
"The accused entered the actor's flat from the bathroom window with the intention of theft. After he entered the house, the actor's staff spotted him and started arguing with him. Soon, Saif Ali Khan came there and sensing a threat, he held the accused tightly from the front," the official said.
"As the accused did not get time to move, he started stabbing the actor in his back to free himself from the latter's grip. As Khan was injured in the attack, the accused managed to break free from his grip," he said.
Later, Khan locked the main door of his flat assuming that the attacker was still inside. However, the accused managed to flee using the same route through which he had entered, the official said.
The police earlier said that the fingerprints of the accused have been found at the crime scene, including the bathroom window from where he entered and exited, the duct shaft and the ladder he used to enter from the duct.
Fakir, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh, had been residing in Mumbai for over five months, working odd jobs and associated with a housekeeping agency, they said.
The police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the help of the accused, an official said.
A team of 20 officials reached the Satguru Sharan building in four police vans around 5.30 am and were on the premises for an hour, the official said.
The police team entered the building through the front gate with the accused, and also took him to Bandra railway station, from where he had taken a train to Dadar, and to a place outside a garden where he had slept after the attack.
Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has lauded Khan's bravery and is happy that his former co-star is safe.
"It's very nice that he is safe, it's good we are happy. The whole industry is very happy. And it was very brave of him, he protected his family," Akshay said at the press conference of his new film "Sky Force" on Monday.
Mumbai | The Bangladeshi national arrested for attacking Saif Ali Khan gained entry into the actor's building in Mumbai's Bandra area by scaling its compound wall, and found the security guards sleeping at that time, police said on Tuesday.
The Mumbai police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused at the Satguru Sharan building, where the actor resides.
Khan (54) was stabbed repeatedly by the intruder, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir alias Vijay Das (30), inside his 12-floor apartment in the wee hours of January 16. The actor suffered multiple stab injuries in the attack and underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital.
Three days after the attack, the police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city.
A police official said, "Both the security guards in the building where actor Saif Ali Khan resides were sleeping when his attacker entered it by crossing over the boundary wall."
"As he found both the security guards in deep slumber, the accused entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV camera has been installed. The accused removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid making any noise and also switched off his phone," he said.
"During the probe, the police found that there are no CCTV cameras installed in the building's corridor. The investigation revealed that one of the two security guards was sleeping in the cabin and the other near the gate," he added.
In order to recreate the crime scene, the police took the accused to the actor's building as well as at other places that he possibly visited to have food, to change clothes and to board a train, he said.
The accused is kept in the police lockup either at the Bandra or the Santacruz police stations and no one except the investigation officer has permission to meet him, he said, adding that he is being provided food that other accused are being given.
Police Inspector (Crime) Ajay Lingnurkar has been appointed as the investigation officer in the case, the official said.
Fakir, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh, had been residing in Mumbai for over five months, working odd jobs and associated with a housekeeping agency, the police have said.
A court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded the accused in five-day police custody.