Mumbai: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was stabbed multiple times with a knife by an intruder inside his apartment in upscale Bandra in Maharashtra’s capital Mumbai on the intervening night of January 15 and 16. Hours after the attack, the Mumbai Police identified an accused who used a staircase to enter the actor's residence.

Speaking to the media, Dixit Gedam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone 9 of Mumbai Police, said that burglary was the motive behind the attack.

"It has been discovered that the accused used the fire escape to enter their house. So far, the investigation suggests that it was an attempted burglary. We are making every effort to arrest the accused as soon as possible. Once he is arrested, we will be able to disclose further details," he said as reported by ANI.

"One accused has been identified. He used the staircase to enter, and teams are in the field to arrest him. There are 10 detection teams working in different directions," DCP Gedam added.

Khan along with his family, wife Karena Kapoor and two sons Taimur and Jeh, lives in 'Satguru Sharan' building at the 12th floor. He is reportedly out of danger.

The intruder fled from the spot.

Dr Nitin Dange, a neurosurgeon at Lilavati Hospital, said Khan had sustained a major injury to his "thoracic spine." "Surgery was performed to remove the knife and also to repair the leaking spinal fluid....Khan is completely stable now. He is in recovery mode and is completely out of danger. We will shift him out of ICU tomorrow morning," Dr Dange added as quoted by PTI.

No one has been arrested so far in connection with the case.

Earlier in the day, Lilavati Hospital's COO Dr Niraj Uttamani in a statement said Khan was stabbed by an unidentified person at his Bandra home and brought to the medical facility at 3.30 am.

“Saif Ali Khan was brought to Lilavati (hospital) at 3-30 am. He has six injuries of which two are deeper. One of the injuries is closer to his spine. We are operating on him. He is being operated upon by Neurosurgeon Nitin Dange, cosmetic surgeon Leena Jain and anaesthetist Nisha Gandhi,” Uttamani said earlier.

As per India Today, no outside was spotted in the CCTV footage two hours before the incident. Reports also claimed that the assailant was heading to the room of Saif Ali Khan’s younger son Jeh when the maid started screaming. Saif rushed to the spot and got involved in a scuffle with the alleged burglar.

The police are probing all the angles.

(With inputs from agencies)