Mumbai: Mumbai Crime Branch on Friday alleged that the Bandra police did not take the knife attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan seriously, reported Hindustan Times. They further said that the police of Mumbai's Bandra area did not even promptly alert other units to nab the accused.

“It seems like a complete failure of the Bandra police, who did not take the incident seriously and also did not alert the other police stations nearby and the crime branch to nab the culprit as soon as they came to know about the incident," said a senior officer as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Notably, the Bandra Police reached the Lilavati Hospital at around 4 am on Thursday, while another team reached Saif Ali Khan's Satguru Sharan building in Bandra West, reported the media house.

The officer further claimed that the crime branch was informed about the incident at around 6 am. He also stated that if the Bandra Police had alerted all other police stations on time, the accused could have been nabbed in hours as there was no crowd at the night time.

The officer also claimed that details, including the First Information Report (FIR) copy and CCTV footage of the assailant, were not shared with the crime branch. He suggested that there should be healthy competition between police stations and crime branch units. Another officer also pointed out the delay in taking action by the Bnadra Police.

Meanwhile, a retired IPD officer said that the lapses in three high-profile cases in Bandra -firing outside Salman Khan's house, Baba Sidique killing and the attack on Saif Ali khan, lapses and carelessness could be seen.

“Lapses and carelessness were clearly seen in the three high-profile cases—the firing at actor Salman Khan’s house, where the accused fled from the city and were arrested after three days; the murder of senior NCP leader Baba Siddique, in which main shooter went back to the crime scene and also visited Lilavati Hospital, where the former minister was taken for treatment, but still managed to flee the city; and the Saif Ali Khan attack case,” the retired officer stated as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Crime Branch formed 20 teams to search for the accused who attacked the Bollywood actor at his residence, leaving him injured, said Mumbai Police. Last night, the police brought more than 15 people to the police station for questioning, reported ANI.

Khan was attacked by an intruder in his 11th-floor Bandra flat in the early hours of Thursday. The incident occurred when the intruder allegedly confronted the actor's maid at his residence. As Khan attempted to intervene, the situation escalated into a violent altercation, resulting in the actor sustaining several stab wounds.

The Bollywood actor underwent surgery at Lilavati Hospital. According to the doctors, Saif Ali Khan sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal cord due to a knife lodged in his spine. Surgery was performed to remove a 2.5-inch-long blade from the actor's spine and repair his leaking spinal fluid. He is reportedly out of danger now.