In a shocking incident that left Mumbai reeling, actor Saif Ali Khan narrowly escaped a brutal attack after a late-night intruder broke into his Bandra home. The accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad, a Bangladesh national, managed to stab Saif six times before fleeing the scene. Thanks to quick thinking by Saif and his staff, the attacker was locked in a room briefly but escaped through an air-conditioning duct. Here’s how the dramatic sequence unfolded.
The Attack: A Night of Horror
The terrifying incident began around 2 a.m., when nanny Eliyama Philip first noticed unusual noises. Thinking it might be Kareena Kapoor Khan checking on their son Jeh, she went back to sleep. But when she woke again, a nightmare awaited her—a man emerged from the bathroom and entered the boy’s room, armed with a wooden stick and a long hexa blade.
According to Ms. Philip, the intruder threatened her, saying, “Don’t make any noise, nobody will go out.” When she tried to protect Jeh, he attacked her, injuring her wrists and finger. The man demanded ₹1 crore, escalating the situation further.
Hearing her screams, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan rushed out. When Saif confronted the attacker, he was assaulted with the wooden stick and blade, sustaining injuries to his back, face, and arm. Despite the assault, Saif managed to escape the room along with his staff, locking the attacker inside.
The Intruder’s Escape
While locked in the room, Shariful displayed remarkable cunning. He used the air-conditioning duct to escape and fled down the building’s back staircase. Police later found his face cover in Jeh’s room, which has been sent for forensic testing.
How Police Tracked the Accused
Mumbai Police, under immense pressure following the high-profile attack, deployed 30 teams to track Shariful down. Their painstaking investigation involved:
- CCTV Analysis: Officers scanned hours of footage from Saif’s building and across the city. They identified the suspect leaving the crime scene and later spotted him in DN Nagar, Andheri, dismounting from a bike.
- Local Intelligence: Police zeroed in on Shariful’s rented accommodation in Worli’s Koliwada, where they gathered crucial information about his identity and phone number.
- Final Capture: Using his phone’s location, the police tracked him to a deserted road in Thane, where he was hiding. Shariful was surrounded and taken into custody.
The Intruder’s Motive
Shariful, who had illegally entered India from Bangladesh, reportedly planned to rob Saif and flee to his home country. He intended to travel via Howrah near Kolkata but was arrested before he could secure a train ticket. Police are now questioning travel agents he contacted to piece together his escape plan.
Saif’s Recovery and Narrow Escape
After spending five days at Lilavati Hospital, Saif returned home to rest. The actor sustained six stab injuries, one dangerously close to his spinal cord, which missed by a mere 2 millimeters. Doctors conducted surgery to address spinal fluid leakage and plastic surgery for facial injuries. Saif was seen waving to the media upon his return but has been advised strict bed rest for a week.
A Chilling Reminder
The incident has shaken Mumbai’s celebrity enclave and exposed security vulnerabilities. The audacity of an intruder scaling walls, bypassing security, and attacking one of Bollywood’s biggest stars highlights a dire need for better safeguards.
As Saif recuperates, the police continue their investigation, determined to leave no stone unturned in unraveling the full extent of this chilling case. For now, the actor’s fans and well-wishers are breathing a sigh of relief that the situation, though harrowing, wasn’t fatal.
