Over 24 hours later, Saif Ali Khan’s assailant still at large

All that the police know of his whereabouts is that he was caught on CCTV cameras located on SV Road near the Bandra railway station

Over 24 hours after an unidentified intruder entered the residence of actors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan in Bandra West and inflicted multiple stab wounds on the former, the assailant is still at large.

Over 24 hours later, Saif Ali Khan’s assailant still at large

All that the police know of his whereabouts is that he was caught on CCTV cameras located on SV Road near the Bandra railway station hours after the incident on Thursday morning.

A crime branch team approached the Government Railway Police (GRP) to study CCTV footage of the station road and platforms.

The accused is suspected to have taken a local train from the station on Thursday morning, according to officials.

CCTV footage has also revealed that the assailant changed his clothes following the attack.

Cameras in the Satguru Sharan building, where the Khans reside, show him wearing a brown t-shirt while descending the stairs at around 2.30 am after the attack. The CCTV camera near Bandra station captured him wearing a blue shirt.

Other than these two CCTV grabs, the police are still floundering in their attempt to trace the assailant.

The Bandra police brought in a man who resembles the assailant and who has previous theft cases registered against him for questioning on Friday, but he has not been detained yet, said officials.

Around 24 teams of the Mumbai police and crime branch are working on the case.

The police have questioned at least 20 people so far, including the staff at the Khans’ home, workers who had done carpentry and flooring work in two rooms of the duplex apartment a few days ago, staff from nearby houses and regular visitors to the building like milk suppliers and grocery delivery persons.

The police are trying to ascertain if any of them gave tips to the attacker about the Khans’ residence or provided him with any information about the building’s layout and possible entry and escape routes.

“The accused knew his way into and out of the house,” said a crime branch officer, adding that the intruder possibly entered the building by breaching the compound wall, taking the stairs from the basement parking area and going straight to the higher floors where the Khans’ home is located.

The officer said the man appeared to have entered the Khans’ duplex flat on the 11th floor through a bathroom window via the duct area.

The Bandra police also recorded the statement of Kareena Kapoor Khan on Friday evening, as she was a witness to the incident. It took around three hours to record her statement, officials said.

The police have also taken possession of a portion of a knife that got lodged in Saif’s spine, while efforts to recover the remaining part are still underway.

Saif sustained six stab wounds, including a major injury to the thoracic spinal cord, according to officials.

However, the 54-year-old is doing “very well” and is expected to be discharged in two to three days, doctors at the Lilavati Hospital said on Friday.

Besides Saif, two staff nurses at the Khans’ home, Geeta and Eliyamma Philips, who is the complainant, also suffered knife injuries in the incident, officials said.