CBI files FIR in Disha Salian case, names Aaditya Thackeray and others

There has been a major turn in the case of Disha Salian, the former manager of Sushant Singh Rajput, six years after her death. Following an order from the Bombay High Court, the CBI has registered an FIR in the case, and the FIR names Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, actress Rhea Chakraborty and Showik Chakraborty, among others.

According to information, the CBI's FIR also names, besides Aaditya Thackeray, actors Dino Morea, Rohan Roy and Sooraj Pancholi, Aaditya Thackeray's security personnel, Rhea Chakraborty, Showik Chakraborty, former police officer Sachin Vaze, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, and DCP Vishal Thakur. Also named in the FIR are the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, some police officers, forensic officials, doctors and other people linked to the case. Officers of the Malvani police station, the doctors and staff involved in Disha's post-mortem, officials of the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory and security guards of the Regent Galaxy building are also reported to be within the ambit of the investigation.

However, being named in the FIR does not necessarily mean the person is guilty. During the investigation, everyone's role will be examined on the basis of documents and evidence gathered.

Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling from a residential building in Mumbai's Malad area. At the time, Mumbai Police had recorded it as an accidental death. Just six days after Disha's death, on June 14, 2020, Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his home in Bandra. Because of how little time separated the two events, there has been discussion and claims over the past several years that the two are connected, although the two cases were investigated separately.

Two days before the CBI registered the FIR, a statement was recorded from Disha's father, Satish Salian, in which he named several people and voiced suspicion of a conspiracy behind his daughter's death. He has demanded a thorough investigation into allegations of fabricating a false story to make Disha's death look like suicide, and of suppressing, destroying or tampering with evidence. Establishing how much truth there is in these allegations will now be a major challenge for the CBI.

The CBI has registered the FIR in the case on the directions of the Bombay High Court, which has also ordered the appointment of a senior CBI officer to monitor the investigation. Notably, the CBI had earlier investigated Sushant Singh Rajput's death and filed a closure report describing it as a case of suicide, but that report has not yet been heard in court. What new facts emerge in this fresh CBI investigation into the Disha Salian death case, which allegations are proven true, and which direction the case takes will now be watched closely across Maharashtra and the country.