INDIA'S Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, 54, was in surgery on Thursday for six stab injuries received in a scuffle with an intruder at his home in the financial capital of Mumbai, media said.
The son of former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, Khan is among the country's most bankable stars, having featured in more than 70 films and television series, in some also as a producer.
He lives in an apartment in the western suburb of Bandra, along with his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is also an actor, and their two children, Jeh and Taimur.
Khan was taken to a nearby hospital at around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday with six injuries, two deeper than the rest and one close to his spine, news agency ANI said, citing Niraj Uttamani, the hospital's chief operating officer.
“A small piece of foreign body close to the spine is identified,“ it quoted the official as saying. “He is currently undergoing surgery ... The extent of the damage will be understood once the surgery is complete.”
Representatives for Khan confirmed he was in surgery after the burglary attempt, media said, but they did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Police said they were investigating the incident, and searching for the assailant, who fled the scene, media said.
Film stars and opposition leaders called for tougher security.
“If such high-profile people with ... security can be attacked in their homes, what could happen to common citizens?” Clyde Crasto, spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, said on messaging platform X.
India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies
won November elections
in the western state of Maharashtra, the capital of which is Mumbai.
Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt also called for a greater police presence in the suburb home to many in the film industry.
“The city, and especially the queen of the suburbs, have never felt so unsafe before,“ she said on X, using a popular description for the trendy area.
Reuters has a minority stake in ANI.
