Man detained not connected to Saif Ali Khan assault: Mumbai police

Mumbai police have clarified that the man they detained earlier on Friday is not connected to the knife attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan. He was detained after police questioned several people who resembled the attacker, an official said.

The man brought into the Bandra police station was carrying a backpack similar to the one seen in the CCTV footage from the actor’s building.

No underworld gang is behind the knife attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, Maharashtra minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam said on Friday.

“A suspect who has been detained in connection with the attack is not part of any gang. No gang has carried out this attack,” Kadam told reporters in Pune.

“There has been no intimation from Saif Ali Khan to police till date on whether he faced any threat,” the minister said. “He has not sought any security cover, but if he does so, we will follow due procedure,” he added. Kadam said theft was the only motive behind the attack on the actor.

Khan was repeatedly stabbed by an intruder in his highrise apartment in upscale Bandra early Thursday and rushed to hospital with the blade still lodged in his spine.

The 54-year-old, who received six stab injuries, including one in his neck, was out of danger following an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital. He was attacked just in front of his younger son Jeh's room around 2.30 am.

CCTV footage showed the alleged assailant, wearing a red scarf and carrying a backpack, scurrying down the stairs from the sixth floor of the Satguru Sharan building where Khan lives.