Mumbai: Auto rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana revealed that he initially did not recognise the passenger wearing a blood-stained kurta, whom he ferried to Lilavati Hospital early Thursday morning, was Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan.
Recounting the incident on Friday, Rana told the reporters in Mumbai, "It was only when we reached the hospital gate that he called the guard to fetch a stretcher, saying he was Saif Ali Khan."
"I was passing by the Satguru Darshan building in Bandra when a woman and a few others stopped me. Then the person whose white kurta was soaked in blood got in the auto. I noticed he had neck and back injuries, but did not notice the hand injury," the driver said.
#WATCH | Attack on #SaifAliKhan | Mumbai: Bhajan Singh Rana, autorickshaw driver who rushed the actor to Lilavati Hospital after the attack, says, " i drive my vehicle at night. it was around 2-3 am when i saw a woman trying to hire an auto but nobody stopped. i could also hear… pic.twitter.com/3pzoy2eoh6
— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2025
"He (Saif) walked into the auto. There was a seven-eight-year-old boy who also boarded the rickshaw," he said when asked if the actor's son Taimur accompanied him to the hospital. Initially, the group planned to head to Holy Family Hospital in Bandra, but Saif directed the driver to Lilavati Hospital instead. The ride lasted about seven to eight minutes, and they arrived around 3 am.
"When we reached the hospital, he (Saif) called out to the guard at the gate, saying, 'Please bring a stretcher. I am Saif Ali Khan'," Rana recounted. It was only then that the auto driver discovered the identity of his passenger.
Despite the late hour and the urgency of the situation, Rana refused to take any fare from the actor. "He was speaking to the boy during the ride and remained calm throughout," the driver said, adding that he was accompanied by another 'young man', likely his elder son Ibrahim Ali Khan, 23, from his first marriage to Amrita Singh.
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