Mumbai: NCP (Sharad Pawar) legislator Jitendra Awhad stirred a controversy on Saturday by suggesting that extremist Hindu forces were behind the stabbing of actor Saif Ali Khan.

He told media persons that Saif has been on the radar of these forces ever since he named his son after Taimur, for whom right wing forces have intense hatred because of the violent campaigns he had led against Hindus. Saif had in the past come in for severe criticism for calling his son Taimur.

Awhad claimed that the attacker had entered Saif's penthouse with an intention to kill him.

Ashok Swain, a social media influencer based in Sweden, also alleged that the attack was the handiwork of extremist Hindutva forces. He said it was significant that the assailant was wearing a saffron scarf.

Swain was severely trolled in the social media for his remark. Police sources pooh-poohed these claims. They said an attempt was being made to give a communal twist to the stabbing incident by persons with a political agenda.