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Saif Ali Khan stabbing takes political turn as Mahayuti leaders question ‘seriousness’ of attack

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Mumbai: A political row has erupted in Maharashtra over the break-in at actor Saif Ali Khan’s plush Mumbai home that left him with knife injuries.

With the actor home safe and sound from the hospital, leaders from the ruling Mahayuti are questioning if the attack on Khan was as severe as it was being made out to be at a time when Opposition leaders are raising questions about Mumbai’s law and order.

Meanwhile, Opposition MLA Aaditya Thackeray has hit out at the Union government for its handling of illegal immigration, given that the accused is a Bangladeshi national.

On 16 January, an intruder broke into the actor’s 12th-floor residence in Bandra, attacking Khan and a member of his staff with a knife when they tried to stop him. Khan underwent surgery for his injuries at the Lilavati Hospital and was discharged Tuesday.

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The Mumbai Police has arrested one person, identified as Mohammad Shariful Islam Shahzad, in the case.

On Friday, the actor recorded his statement with the Mumbai Police, recounting how he and his wife, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, were woken up by the cries of a nurse on their staff and youngest son, Jehangir.

Speaking at an event Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister Nitesh Rane made statements with heavy communal undertones and questioned if the actor was actually stabbed.

The Mahayuti comprises BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

“The Bangladeshis used to stand on the corner of roads, now they have started entering houses. Maybe they came to take him (Saif Ali Khan) away,” said Rane, who holds the fisheries portfolio in the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet.

“The way he was walking out of the hospital, I had a doubt about whether he had even been stabbed or was just acting.”

He also said Opposition leaders only voice their anguish when “any Khan is in trouble.”

“But, if anything happens to a Hindu actor like Sushant Singh Rajput, then the leader from Mumbra or the tai (elder sister) from Baramati don’t come out to talk about it,” Rane said, referring to Mumbra MLA Jitendra Awhad and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, both from NCP (Sharad Pawar).

In 2020, the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput—which police declared a suicide—was heavily politicisied with some BJP leaders, then in the Opposition, hinting at the involvement of Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray.

Leaders of the then ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Congress, alleged that the BJP was using the case to destabilise the Maharashtra government.


Also Read: Not right to say Mumbai unsafe based on stray incidents, says CM Fadnavis as Oppn slams law & order


Ruling party raises doubts over attack

Former MP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Sanjay Nirupam, speaking to PTI news agency, also questioned the official version of events Thursday.

“We are not against Saif Ali Khan’s family. We have a lot of sympathy for them. But, that day, the way the doctor put everything before people and said there was a 2.5-inch knife in Saif Ali Khan’s back. Then he said the operation went on for six hours.”

Calling on the Khan and his family to clarify what happened, he said, “When so much is going on, how can a person be discharged from the hospital in such a fit state in just four days?”

“The bigger question is that was the attack so serious?” Nirupam said, adding, “Because after that attack, everywhere across Mumbai, people from the Opposition parties started questioning the law and order in Mumbai. They said the home department has failed and Mumbai Police has failed. ”

Congress questions identity of accused

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole wondered whether the Mumbai Police had arrested the right person in the case, claiming that the photo of the person spotted on the surveillance cameras and the accused who was arrested appeared to be different.

“Religion and politics is the BJP’s agenda. How to set aside people’s questions and create religious divides,” Patole said at a press conference.

“Instead of creating religious divides, the government machinery needs to get to the bottom of what happened,” he added.

On Monday, Aaditya Thackeray, while hailing the swift arrest made by Mumbai Police, slammed the Union government for its “failure to curb illegal immigration from Bangladesh”.

In a statement on X, Thackeray said, “The home departments, be it Centre or state, have been with the BJP for the past decade. It can’t blame anyone else for this illegal immigration problem other than itself.”

(Edited by Sanya Mathur)


Also Read: 1 Nawab, 3 daughters. Why prime real estate Saif Ali Khan inherited was declared ‘enemy property’


 



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