MUMBAI: In a case of mistaken identity, an engineer with a city-based private firm was attacked with a knife by a stranger outside a playground in Bandra (West) on Monday evening. Makrand Gaidhane (56) needed 15 stitches to his left cheek after the accused, Sahil Shaikh (23), attacked him with a knife he had bought for Rs 60 barely 30 minutes before committing the offence.Shaikh realized he had attacked the wrong man when he turned back to look at his face, Bandra police told TOI. He fled after throwing the knife near the playground.Shaikh reportedly admitted to the police that he wanted to seek revenge against some locals who had allegedly assaulted him "for no fault of his" the previous day, when he had intervened in a fight between a few youngsters. "Locals present on the spot thought it was Shaikh who had started the fight and attacked him. This angered him and he came up with a revenge plan," said a police official.Bandra police solved the case within two hours of the offence with the arrest of Shaikh from Dharavi The incident occurred around 6pm when Gaidhane, who lives in a building barely 500 metres from the crime spot, was on his way to an ATM kiosk to update his bank passbook.Locals who witnessed the incident outside General Anil Kumar Vaidya playground rushed him to Leelavati Hospital where he underwent a surgery for the laceration on his cheek.Before he went in for surgery at 9.30pm, Gaidhane told the police he was caught completely off-guard by the attack. "Gaidhane didn't know his attacker and everything happened in a flash. He realized he had sustained a grievous injury on his cheek only when he saw his shirt soaked in blood. He has undergone surgery and won't be discharged for two more days. He got 15 stitches to his left cheek and his condition is stable," said a police officer.Bandra police senior inspector Girish Anavkar, who was patrolling the neighbourhood for dahi handi on Monday evening, spotted a crowd outside the playground. Locals apprised him of the crime.DCP (Zone IX) Paramjit Singh Dahiya supervised the Bandra police team that tracked down Shaikh to Dharavi with help of CCTVs. "The CCTV footage helped us identify Shaikh whose photograph was shown to locals. Then, through an informer, his location was traced to Dharavi. Shaikh said he regrets attacking an innocent man. He said he wanted to take revenge against some locals near the playground for assaulting him on Sunday evening ," said an officer. Shaikh was booked under IPC section 326 for causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon.