Disha Salian case reopened: Suraj Pancholi, Aditya Thackeray deny links after Bombay HC order

The Disha Salian death case, dormant for six years, is back at the centre of political and public attention after the Bombay High Court ordered a fresh probe and investigating agencies reopened the file with a wider FIR. The case now names actor Suraj Pancholi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA Aditya Thackeray, actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty, actor Dino Morea and several former police officers, among others. Disha Salian, who had worked as Sushant Singh Rajput's manager, died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 12th floor of a Mumbai building. Rajput himself died by suicide six days later, on June 14, 2020, an overlap the opposition has repeatedly cited while pressing for a fuller inquiry.

Disha's father, Satish Salian, has made serious allegations against those named in the case and says he possesses evidence to support them. His lawyer, Nilesh Ojha, has gone further, alleging that Disha was gang raped and murdered, and claiming to hold material touching on drug and child trafficking angles. Ojha has also alleged that Disha's mobile phone remained with certain individuals between June 9 and June 17, 2020, and that its data was examined during that window. None of these claims have been independently verified, and it will be for the investigating agencies to establish whether they hold up.

Suraj Pancholi, who had stayed off the record on the matter for years, issued a lengthy statement on social media once the FIR became public. "I need to state this very clearly, that I have never met the late Disha Salian in my entire life, directly or indirectly," he wrote, adding that he had also never met Aditya Thackeray. He said years of being linked to the case without evidence had caused him considerable distress, and recalled that the CBI and Mumbai police had already questioned him and recorded his statement four to five years ago. "I have nothing to hide," he said, offering full cooperation should agencies wish to question him again or need further information. He argued that a person's tragic death should not be used to damage someone else's reputation without proof, and asked that agencies also look into the spread of false information around the case. Taking aim at the coverage on television and social media, he said, "A headline is not proof, and discussion is not proof either," and closed his post by saying, "The truth will come out eventually."

Aditya Thackeray broke his own silence on the case for the first time in six years, posting a detailed statement on X after his name surfaced in the reopened FIR. He said he had never met Disha Salian and had no acquaintance with her, and accused certain people of trying for six years to tie his name to the tragedy for political gain, personal rivalry and character assassination, without any evidence connecting him to the case. He described the campaign against him as baseless and said noisy television debates and media trials could not alter the facts. He called on the agencies to investigate afresh, free of political interference or attempts at character assassination, and said his fight for the truth and for the people would continue regardless of the pressure. Senior BJP leader Narayan Rane had earlier linked Thackeray's name to the case.

With the Bombay High Court's order having widened the FIR beyond the names first reported, the case has drawn fresh political heat, and attention now turns to how the CBI and other agencies proceed with the reopened investigation.