 "Why Saif Ali Khan’s discharge from hospital has sparked conspiracies about knife attack")
Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan returned to his home in Mumbai earlier this week from a hospital, less than a week after an intruder stabbed him multiple times. After being discharged from Lilavati Hospital in the city on Tuesday (January 21) afternoon, he was captured smiling at cameras and waving from his bandaged hand.
The 54-year-old actor was stabbed six times during a burglary attempt at his home after midnight last Thursday. As per the doctors, he sustained stab wounds to his spine, neck and hands and underwent two surgeries at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital. The Mumbai Police have arrested a man named Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, who is suspected to be a citizen of Bangladesh, in connection with the case.
Khan’s video after his discharge from hospital on Tuesday has sparked a political controversy, with some politicians even raising doubts about the attack on him.
Let’s take a closer look.
What’s the row?
Maharashtra Ports Minister Nitesh Rane made incendiary remarks against Saif Ali Khan , questioning whether the actor was even stabbed or “acting”.
“Look at what Bangladeshis are doing in Mumbai. They entered Saif Ali Khan’s house. Earlier they used to stand at road crossings… now they have started entering houses. Maybe he came to take him (Khan) away. It is good… garbage should be taken away,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
“I saw when he came out of the hospital. I doubted whether he had been stabbed, or he was acting. He was dancing while walking,” Rane added.
Speaking at a BJP event in Pune on Wednesday (January 22), the Maharashtra minister claimed everyone speaks up when a ‘Khan’ is attacked, but not when a Hindu actor is attacked.
#WATCH | Pune: Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane says, "Look at what Bangladeshis are doing in Mumbai. They entered Saif Ali Khan's house. Earlier they used to stand at the crossings of the roads, now they have started entering houses. Maybe he came to take him (Saif) away. It is… pic.twitter.com/XUBwpwQ6RQ
— ANI (@ANI) January 23, 2025
“Opposition leaders Jitendra Awhad and Supriya Sule did not speak about (late actor) Sushant Singh Rajput. She is concerned only about Saif Ali Khan,” Rane alleged. Rajput died by suicide at his residence in Mumbai in June 2020.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam also commented on the “quick” recovery of Khan.
“Doctors at the Lilavati Hospital said the knife had penetrated 2.5 inches inside the actor’s back and the surgery went on for six hours. They should tell us if a person who underwent a six-hour-long operation can recover so quickly,” Nirupam said, as per the news agency PTI.
What have others said?
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar responded to Rane’s remarks, saying he could approach the Home Department, which is under CM Devendra Fadnavis, if “he has something on his mind”.
“The truth, at the moment, is that the person has been arrested. That person had come from Bangladesh… everyone has an attraction towards Mumbai,” the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said, as per NDTV.
“He needed to go back to Bangladesh after seeing Mumbai (but) needed money,” Pawar said, suggesting the suspect might be trying to steal cash to return home.
“Perhaps yesterday, when Saif Ali Khan was going home, looking at his health and clothes it was difficult to guess he was attacked a few days ago. But what happened was true,” the NCP leader said.
The Mumbai Police investigating Saif Ali Khan stabbing case took the accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, to the actor's Bandra house on Tuesday morning to recreate the crime scene@kaidensharmaa shares details @KuheenaSharma | #SaifAliKhanAttacked pic.twitter.com/vFT5r9uHLN
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 21, 2025
A day after Khan was discharged, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut said it was a “medical miracle”. “Son of Mansoor Ali Khan of Pataudi, husband of Kareena Kapoor, father of Taimur. No matter how deep the knife penetrated, the man is alive and walking home on his own feet. I think it is a miracle performed by the doctors at our Lilavati Hospital,” Raut reportedly said.
A leader from BJP’s ally Shiv Sena hit out at “certain people of the political class” who questioned the integrity of the Mumbai Police.
“Just because Saif Ali Khan walked in like a lion with a knife near his spine and his 8-year-old son, he has proudly walked out like a tiger. Instead of being happy for him and the fact that his life got saved, I don’t know what the media and certain people of the political class are doing by questioning the integrity of the police force. Let’s talk about safety measures in this high-profile case," Shaina NC said.
Actor Pooja Bhatt slammed the “conspiracy theorists", saying the same people were praising Khan for getting to the hospital himself. “But don’t these very people forget that they lauded him for walking himself into the hospital as well? A man who checks himself into the hospital in a wounded, traumatised condition surely has the grit to walk out of the hospital on his own. We should be applauding this instead of resorting to being conspiracy theorists," she said in an interview with ETimes.
What do doctors say?
Doctors say it is not unusual for Khan to be discharged within a week after his surgery.
“We live in an era of day-care surgeries. Patients get discharged five days after complex spine surgery” as “today’s minimally invasive techniques no longer need deep cuts or removal of bones to repair the spine,” a south Mumbai-based neurosurgeon told Times of India (TOI).
Plastic surgeon Dr Rachana Tataria of Fortis Hospital, Mulund, pointed out that recovery depends on the “extent” of injury. “In Khan’s case, nerves were possibly spared, and there was no direct injury to the spinal cord,” she told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Khan’s alleged health insurance claim document was leaked online last week, sparking a debate on how insurance companies handle claims for celebrities compared to common persons.
As per the purported document, Khan had filed a claim of Rs 35,95,700 based on the expected cost of his treatment. His insurance provider, Niva Bupa Health Insurance, approved Rs 25 lakh. As per Hindustan Times (HT) sources, his hospital bill came to around Rs 26 lakh.
Dr Prashant Mishra, a cardiac surgeon at Tunga Hospital in Malad, took to X to flag the discrimination. “For small hospitals and the common man, Niva Bupa will not sanction more than Rs 5 lakh for such treatment. Five-star hospitals are charging exorbitant fees, and mediclaim companies are paying them. The result? Premiums are rising, and the middle class is suffering,” he alleged.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
