Doctors say Khan on path to ‘complete recovery’ after receiving six stab wounds as police search for suspect.
Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has been stabbed after an intruder invaded his home in Mumbai.
Khan, 54, was taken to a nearby hospital in Mumbai at about 3:30am on Thursday with six injuries, two deeper than the rest and one close to his spine, ANI news agency said, quoting the hospital’s chief operating officer.
Khan’s public representatives also confirmed the incident, calling it an “attempted burglary”, adding that “the rest of the family is doing fine”.
Later on Thursday, doctors told reporters Khan was “on the path to complete recovery”.
“He sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal chord due to a lodged knife in the spine,” said Nitin Dange, one of the doctors operating on on the actor. “Surgery was performed to remove the knife and also repair the leaking spinal fluid.”
A female employee at their home was also attacked and was being treated, police said.
It’s scary to think of an intruder walking into an apartment and stabbing the resident! Many questions about how this can happen but first all our prayers with #SaifAliKhan and his family. — Saba Naqvi (@_sabanaqvi) January 16, 2025
Khan lives in an apartment in the western Mumbai suburb of Bandra, along with his wife Kareena Kapoor-Khan, who is also an actor, and their two children.
According to news outlet NDTV, the police were still searching for the suspect and have launched an investigation into the attack.
Khan is among the country’s most bankable actors, having featured in more than 70 films and television series, in some also as a producer. He is the son of former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore.
‘So unsafe’
Messages of solidarity and prayers poured across social media including from fans, politicians and Khan’s Bollywood colleagues.
“Shocked and saddened to hear about the attack on Saif sir. Wishing and praying for his speedy recovery and good health,” actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr, also known as NTR Jr, posted on X.
Celebrities, opposition leaders and other public figures also called for tougher security.
“If such high-profile people with… security can be attacked in their homes, what could happen to common citizens?” Clyde Crasto, spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, said on social media.
Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt also called for a greater police presence in the suburb, home to many in the film industry.
“The city, and especially the queen of the suburbs, have never felt so unsafe before,” she posted on X, using a popular description for the trendy area.
Some netizens even called the actor a ‘real life hero’ based on news that he might have gotten stabbed in a bid to protect his family and staff.
“Saif Ali Khan proved to be a real-life hero as well,” wrote one person on X (formerly Twitter) reacting to news that the actor was stabbed while trying to protect his family. “#SaifAliKhan is real life hero. Praying for him,” wrote another. One X user wrote, “Father saving kids and suffering injuries. True Real life hero. #SaifAliKhan.”
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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