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Days after Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was stabbed multiple times inside his Mumbai home, a suspect has been detained in Chhattisgarh. The 54-year-old actor suffered multiple stab wounds, including on his neck and near the spine, after an intruder entered his upscale Bandra home and attacked him in the early hours of Thursday.
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 - deboarded and was immediately taken into custody. He is being interrogated". "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.
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. Saif Ali Khan - who was stabbed six times - is recovering well, doctors treating him said.
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 at Bandra railway station. In another photo, he was seen at the Dadar railway station. It was suspected that he had taken a train out of Mumbai.
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 is 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.
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.
More than 30 teams have been formed to track down and catch the attacker. Maharashtra Minister of State for Home (Urban) Yogesh Kadam said robbery was the motive behind the incident and clarified no underworld gang was involved in the knife attack.