Saturday, 18 January 2025
Saturday, 18 January 2025
Maharashtra’s home minister said theft was the only motive behind the attack on Saif Ali Khan and the state’s revenue minister said Mumbai is the safest city on Friday, a day after the Bollywood star being stabbed at home sparked concerns about law and order in India’s financial capital.
Saif, 54, suffered grievous injuries after an intruder stabbed him with a knife repeatedly at his flat in the top floors of a 12-storey building in the upscale suburb of Bandra in the early hours of Thursday.
Maharashtra home (urban) minister Yogesh Kadam said the Mumbai police have detained a person whose facial features match the suspected attacker whose image was captured in CCTV cameras in the building.
The detained person has a criminal record and police are questioning him, Kadam said at a news conference in Pune.
Asked about the possible involvement of a criminal gang in the attack, the minister maintained primary investigations have ruled out any such angle.
So far, theft seems to be the only motive behind the incident, he added.
"The police are tracking one more person," Kadam informed.
The police, it is learnt, are questioning all the staff who were working in Saif’s home.
“Those who have been working for the past 10-15 years have also been called," the son of Waris Ali Salmani, a carpenter who is being questioned by the police, told PTI VIdeos..
CCTV footage showed the suspected assailant, wearing a red scarf and carrying a backpack, scurrying down the stairs from the sixth floor of the Satguru Sharan building where Khan lives.
Even as Opposition leaders and the common social media users bemoaned the state of law and order in Mumbai, Maharashtra revenue minister and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday said the state government and police department responded quickly to the knife attack on Saif.
Bawankule emphasised that Mumbai is the safest city in the country.
"We have seen how the then government responded to the incident that took place near Ambani ji's residence [industrialist Mukesh Ambani's Antilia]. We don't want to compare these incidents. But Mumbai is a safe place and the safest city in the country. The Mumbai and Maharashtra police are alert, and it is important how they respond when such incidents occur. Our home minister is taking proper action," he said.
On social media, however, users vented their angst.
“Maharashtra under BJP: Hoarding collapses on citizens, Shivaji statue falls, politicians shot on streets, celebrities attacked at home, corrupt politicians get clean chit. And BJP voters think this is the welfare Maharashtra needs,” wrote a user on X (formerly Twitter)
Another user wrote: “Even a high-profile personality like Saif Ali Khan is not safe in a BJP-ruled state. Imagine the condition of common people. Maharashtra has now become a hub for crime.”
On Thursday, when Opposition leaders declared that the city had become so unsafe that even celebrities were in danger, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had told reporters: "I think Mumbai is the safest among mega cities in the country. It is true that some incidents take place sometimes, and they must be taken seriously. But to say that Mumbai is unsafe due to such incidents is not right.”
