Saif Ali Khan Stabbing | Mumbai India's Safest, Can't Call It Unsafe Due To One Incident: CM Fadnavis

Mumbai: Speaking over the knife attack on actor Saif Ali Khan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, on Thursday, said one shouldn't call Mumbai an unsafe place.

Fadnavis, while speaking to the media, said, "Mumbai is the country's safest city. Some incidents do indeed happen but one can't call the city unsafe due to any one incident. However, such incidents must be taken seriously. We are trying to probe the motive behind the attack."

He added, "Calling it unsafe will tarnish Mumbai's image. However, we need to make the city safer and we are trying to make efforts for the same."

Saif Ali Khan suffered grievous injuries after an intruder stabbed him with a knife repeatedly at his 12th-floor flat in Mumbai's Bandra area early Thursday morning. The actor was out of danger, according to the doctors who operated on him to remove the knife from his back. 

He was talking to the media after attending a special screening of Kangana Ranaut-directed film "Emergency". 

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said the incident revealed the law and order situation was deteriorating in Maharashtra.

Various other opposition leaders also said the attack on Khan shows that not even celebrities are safe in the state, and CM Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, has failed to maintain law and order.

"It shows (attack on Khan) that the law and order situation in Maharashtra is deteriorating. Recently, a person was killed in the same area and now this incident. All these things are worrisome," Pawar told reporters at Baramati in Pune when asked about the attack on Khan.

"The state government, especially the chief minister, who holds charge of the home department, should pay attention to these things more seriously," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

In October last year, former state minister Baba Siddique was shot dead by three persons in the Bandra area.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, "No one is safe. Let alone ordinary people, even celebrities who have their own security are not safe." Khan is a Padma Shri recipient and recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi along with his family, Raut noted.

Police in the state are mostly deployed for the security of politicians, "especially those who defect", Raut said, adding, "There is no fear of law. The government stands exposed." Speaking to PTI Videos, Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state, and the incidents in Beed - where a village sarpanch was brutally killed for allegedly thwarting an attempt to extort money from an energy firm - showed that the administration is working for anti-social elements.

If people like actors Saif Ali Khan and Salman Khan who live in high-security zones were being attacked and needed to install bullet-proof windows, it means nobody trusts the government, the Congress leader said.

A bullet-proof glass panel was recently installed outside the balcony of Salman Khan's Bandra flat. Two members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had opened fire outside Salman's house last April.

"If such big people are not safe, what about common people? Even the hometown of Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis has witnessed many murders and rapes in the last 10 days," Londhe said, referring to Nagpur.

"It clearly indicates that Fadnavis has completely failed in maintaining law and order in Maharashtra," he said.

NCP (SP) Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule expressed concern over the attack on Khan, terming the incident as "worrisome".

Another NCP (SP) leader and former home minister Anil Deshmukh said the attack on a big star like Saif Ali Khan was very unfortunate, and the police department should take strict action.

It is the government's responsibility to provide an environment free from fear for artists, he said. (with PTI inputs)