Attacker stabbed Saif Ali Khan on the back, as he was held tightly, sources reveals attack's chronology

In Saif Ali Khan stabbing case, the 30-year-old convict told the police that he stabbed Saif on his back many times to free himself from the actor’s tight hold.  

The convict, Mohammed Shehzad was arrested early morning from Thane, Maharashtra on Sunday, January 19. He is an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh.  

According to police sources, the accused, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, allegedly hid in the garden of the building where Khan resides in upscale Bandra for nearly two hours before escaping the scene.  

Saif Ali Khan survived six stab injuries on January 16 when Mohammed Shehzad attacked him while attempting a theft at his Mumbai home. He was urgently taken to Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital where he underwent surgery.  

The doctors stated they eliminated a 2.5-inch piece of a broken knife from his spine while doing the surgery. They said that if the knife had been thrusted 2 mm deeper, it could have made the injury even worse. Saif, 54, was released from the hospital and came back home on Tuesday.  

Attack on Saif, chronology

A source revealed that Shehzad allegedly gained entry into Mr. Khan's 12th-floor flat in the Satguru Sharan building through the bathroom window, with the intention of committing theft. “After he entered the house, the actor's staff spotted him and started arguing with him. Soon, Saif Ali Khan came there and sensing a threat, he held the accused tightly from the front,” the source said.   

"As the accused did not get time to move, he started stabbing Mr Khan in his back to free himself from the actor's grip. As Mr Khan was injured in the attack, the accused managed to break free from his grip," the source further said.   

According to the source, Mr. Khan swiftly locked his flat's main door, believing Shehzad was still inside, but the accused escaped by retracing his entry route through the bathroom window. "The accused then came down and hid himself in the garden of the building for around two hours before fleeing the spot," the source added.   

Police had said in its statement earlier that the accused had entered and exited Saif’s flat via a bathroom window, the duct shaft and a ladder, which he used for entrance from the duct.  

Kareena Kapoor Khan, while giving her statement to the police had said that she witnessed the intruder attack her husband repeatedly. “The attacker was aggressive. I saw him attack Saif repeatedly...Our priority was to take Saif to the hospital,” she said.  

Another witness, the actors’ younger son Jehangir (Jeh), Eliyama Philips, said in her statement that the accused had demanded Rs 1 crore. Philips was the first to see Saif’s attacker.