Disha Salian case: CBI files FIR six years on, father names Aaditya Thackeray, others

Six years after former celebrity manager Disha Salian died in Mumbai, the Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a First Information Report in the case and taken charge of the probe, acting on directions from the Bombay High Court. The court had ordered the CBI on September 2 to investigate the death and file an FIR, asking that a senior and experienced officer be put in charge, while making clear that nobody would be treated as an accused unless the investigation turned up solid grounds.

Salian, who had briefly worked as a manager for the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 14th floor of a building in Mumbai's Malad locality. Mumbai Police had at the time first recorded it as an accidental death before their investigation concluded it was a case of suicide, with officers stating that they found no sign of any conspiracy.

Her father, Satish Salian, had never accepted that finding and moved the Bombay High Court seeking a fresh investigation, alleging that his daughter had actually been raped and killed. With the FIR now filed, he went to the CBI's Mumbai office and gave a statement that ran more than four hours, with his lawyer, Nilesh Ojha, present throughout.

In that statement, Satish Salian is reported to have named Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray, actor Dino Morea, Suraj Pancholi, Rhea Chakraborty and certain police personnel, alleging that evidence in the case had been tampered with or that the original inquiry had been influenced. Aaditya Thackeray has rejected the charge against him outright, saying he had no connection to Disha Salian's death and describing the allegation as a bid to tarnish his reputation. The CBI has meanwhile asked Malvani police for the complete case record, and the transfer of the old investigation files to the central agency is understood to be under way. The agency plans to go through this material afresh to reconstruct the events of that night. Senior officer DSP Puran Kumar has been assigned to head the investigation, and along with recording Salian's statement, officers have begun examining the documents handed over so far. A fresh look at the scene, the earlier police work, the existing evidence and the conduct of those named is expected to follow.

Officials have stressed that the probe is still at an early stage and that none of the allegations made by the complainant have been established. The naming of Aaditya Thackeray and others has, however, stirred fresh debate in political and film circles even as investigators say the case's outcome will depend entirely on what the evidence shows.