Disha Salian death: Aaditya Thackeray, Rhea named in CBI FIR, says advocate

CBI has registered an FIR in the Disha Salian death case, naming Aaditya Thackeray and Rhea Chakraborty, among others. The move follows a Bombay High Court direction. NCP's Supriya Sule expressed surprise and said she would speak to Sanjay Raut.

NCP (Sharad Pawar) MP Supriya Sule on Monday said she was surprised by the turn of events in the Disha Salian death case, adding that she would speak with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut to find out more about the situation. Advocate Nilesh Ojha, who is representing Satish Salian in the court case, said on Monday that the FIR registered by CBI in connection with the death of Disha Salian, former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has the names of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, Rohan Roy, Rhea Chakraborty, Param Bir Singh, among others.

Political Reactions to FIR

Sule said she will speak with Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders. “I am surprised by this turn of events, especially considering that it was this very government that had closed the case earlier. I do not fully understand what is happening. I will speak to Sanjay Raut sahab to find out more about the situation," she told reporters.

AIMIM leader Waris Pathan said the matter should not be given a political colour and should be decided through the legal process. "There is no need to give the Disha Salian case a political colour. There is no need to politicise it. For six years, a father has been seeking justice for his daughter. From day one, after approaching the courts, he maintained that his daughter did not commit suicide but was murdered," Pathan said.

"He knocked on the doors of the court, and the Bombay High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the matter. The CBI has now recorded his statement. Based on that statement, an FIR has been registered. Since the matter is sub judice and currently pending before the court, I believe it is best to let the court decide," Pathan added.

Advocate Details Charges in CBI FIR

Advocate Ojha said the CBI registered an FIR yesterday after preliminary verification of the complaint of Disha Salian's father, Satish Salian, and the statement recorded by the probe agency. “That FIR is for gang rape, murder, and a cover-up of this crime. This FIR has been registered under the main offences: Sections 376D, 302, 201, 217, 218, read with 120B of the IPC. The names involved in the FIR are Aaditya Thackeray, then Dino Morea, Sooraj Pancholi, Aaditya Thackeray's bodyguard, Rohan Roy, Rhea Chakraborty, Param Bir Singh, then DCP Vishal Thakur, and the police officer who made false records, the PI of Malwani police station, and members of the SIT. Then the doctor Sanjay Yadav…. Then the chemical analyst of the forensic lab who changed the report of gang rape,” Advocate Ojha said.

“All these people, and there is a long list, so all these people are accused in this... The entire story has been proved false by CCTV. So this entire cover-up means these were all proofs. The court found substance in the prima facie case, hence gave the matter to the CBI," the advocate added.

Bombay HC Intervention and Father's Statement

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday registered an FIR in connection with the death of Disha Salian following a direction from the Bombay High Court for a thorough probe into the case. Salian was found dead on June 8, 2020, days before Rajput was found dead at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai. Her death had earlier been recorded as an Accidental Death Report (ADR).

The development comes after the Bombay High Court directed the CBI to register an FIR and investigate the circumstances surrounding Salian's death. During an earlier hearing, a Division Bench of Justice Bharti Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande had raised concerns over the registration of only an ADR despite allegations by Salian's family that she was murdered. The court had also noted that copies of the post-mortem report and the ADR had not been provided to Salian's family even five years after her death.

Following the court's direction, Satish Salian, had said that he had provided investigating authorities with details of the circumstances surrounding his daughter's death and expressed confidence that the proceedings would begin soon. Speaking to ANI on Friday, Satish Salian said he had told investigators what he knew about the events surrounding his daughter's death and provided names of several individuals whom he wanted authorities to examine.“I stated the facts exactly as they were; I told them everything that happened to my daughter. I listed all the names: Aditya, Sooraj Pancholi, Dino Morea, and the bodyguards. They noted everything down. They said they would take action based on what I told them; the proceedings would begin in a few days,” he said.

“The truth cannot be defeated. God stands where the truth is; that is why justice will be served,” he added. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)