
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 18: Within days of the alleged attack on the Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan at his Mumbai residence, the police have held a suspect from Durg in Chhattisgarh on information that the alleged attacker was travelling by train from Juhu after inflicting six stab wounds on the star.
The 54-year-old actor suffered multiple stab wounds, including on his neck and near the spine, in the attack in the wee hours of Thursday and was recovering in Lilavati hospital after undergoing surgery.
The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Aakash Kailash Kannojia, has been detained at Durg railway station and the Mumbai Police is expected to reach the state in a couple of hours to confirm his identity.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials have claimed that the suspect was “caught from the Mumbai-Howrah Jnaneswari Express on the lead of the Mumbai Police. Around 2 pm, when the train reached Durg, the suspect – who was sitting in the general compartment – de-boarded and was immediately taken into custody. He is being interrogated.”
Acting on the tip-off Mumbai police had send, two teams were formed at Durg station and on the arrival of the train, the suspect was traced and arrested. The photo of the suspect was sent to Mumbai Police who confirmed the identity of the suspect, they said.
“The Mumbai Police had sent the suspect’s photo, train number and location to the RPF, after which he was caught. He is currently in RPF’s custody,” they said. The suspect was made to talk with Mumbai Police officials through video call.
A police team from Mumbai is en route to Durg to confirm whether the detained individual is the person involved in the incident or someone else. It will reach Durg around 8 pm, the officials said. The man was travelling without a ticket. On being questioned, he first said he was going to Nagpur, then said he was going to Bilaspur, they added.
Sources claimed that the detained passenger looked like the suspect in the actor-stabbing case and was carrying the same bag that he was seen carrying in the CCTV footage.
The intruder was seen twice inside the building – where Mr Khan lives with his actor wife Kareena Kapoor Khan and sons Taimur and Jeh – while taking the stairs to reach and flee his apartment. His face was captured in CCTV footage which surfaced on Thursday, which showed him wearing a red scarf and carrying a backpack, scurrying down the stairs at around 2.30 am.
Later in the day, he was spotted in anther video at the Bandra railway station and in another photo, he was seen at the Dadar railway station. It was suspected that he had taken a train out of Mumbai.
The actor was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in an autorickshaw where he underwent emergency surgery. A 2.5-inch piece of the blade was removed from his spine after a five-hour-long surgery.
Yesterday, some reports claimed that the attacker had been arrested after the police detained a man for questioning. However, an official refuted the claim and said the man in question was a carpenter by profession and had worked at the actor’s home two days before the stabbing incident.
Waris Ali Salmani had worked at the actor’s flat two days before the incident and was informed about the attack by the contractor who had hired him for the carpentry assignment, the official said. Hours after questioning, police took him to an undisclosed location, he said.
After the suspect was detained in the actor Saif Ali Khan attack case, IG RPF Munawar Khursheed said, “The Raipur division of RPF received information from the Mumbai police that a suspect involved in the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan is travelling by Jnaneswari Express train…The suspect named Aakash Kanojia aged 32-33 years was detained from Durg …The suspect will be handed over to Mumbai police who will carry out the further investigation.”
Following the detention, the suspect was brought to the RPF Post Durg and Mumbai Police officials were made aware of the development through a video call. A team of Mumbai Police has left by air to reach Raipur and take charge of the suspect at the earliest. The suspect is presently kept under proper guard at RPF Post Durg.
Moments after Durg RPF caught the main suspect in Saif Ali Khan stabbing case, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said, “Actor Saif Ali Khan was attacked some days ago and the suspect has been caught from Durg by RPF. Mumbai Police is coming and the suspect will be handed over to them.”
Maharashtra Minister of State for Home (Urban) Yogesh Kadam had said robbery was the motive behind the incident and had clarified that no underworld gang was involved in the knife attack.
Meanwhile, his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan recorded her statement with the Mumbai Police last night, recalling that she saw the intruder stab Mr Khan repeatedly. “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 he fled without taking any valuables with him.
Ms Kapoor Khan also mentioned that she went to her sister Karisma’s house after Saif Ali Khan was taken to the hospital as she was “terrified”. In a video, Kareena Kapoor Khan was seen talking to her house staff standing next to the autorickshaw. “After the attack, I was terrified, so Karisma took me to her house,” she said.
The actor further mentioned that the attacker ran from the spot and did not take any valuables with him. According to her, Mr Khan was trying to protect their children Taimur and Jehangir. When the attacker could not reach Jeh, he attacked Mr Khan multiple times, she said.
Doctors at the Lilavati Hospital – where Mr Khan is undergoing treatment – said Mr Khan was recovering well post-surgery. He is likely to be discharged in a couple of days, sources said.
According to preliminary investigation, the attacker’s breaking in at Mr Khan’s house lasted for nearly 30 minutes. Police sources said the intruder had scaled the wall of an adjacent compound to enter the premises. He was familiar with the layout of the building and took the stairs on the rear side of the building to reach the floor where the actor lives and entered the house through the fire escape, they added.
A nurse caring for Jeh Eliyama Philips was the first one to encounter the intruder who stabbed Mr Khan. According to her, he demanded Rs 1 crore before Mr Khan intervened. The Mumbai police have recorded statements of over 30 people in connection with the attack.