New Delhi: The CBI, on Monday, September 13, has registered a first information report (FIR) in connection with the death of Disha Salian, former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, after the case was handed over to the central probe agency by the Bombay High Court with a clear instruction not to name anyone as an accused, officials said on Monday.
The FIR names Shiv Sena supremo and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aaditya Thackeray, Aditya’s bodyguards, actors Rohan Roy, Dino Morea, Sooraj Pancholi, Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty, former police officer Sachin Vaze, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and DCP Vishal Thakur.
It also names several police officers, forensic officials, doctors and other individuals.
Two days ago, Salian’s father, Satish Salian, recorded his statement before the CBI as part of the agency’s probe into his daughter’s death. In his statement, he alleged that Uddhav and Aditya played a significant role in an alleged conspiracy and subsequent cover-up.
Earlier, the central probe agency had written to the Malvani police seeking all documents and records related to Disha Salian’s death to facilitate its investigation.
The development follows the Bombay High Court’s direction to register an FIR and ordered a fresh investigation. It pulled up the Mumbai Police for failing to register an FIR for six years, observing that its investigation “raises more questions than answers”. The court also directed that a senior CBI officer be appointed to supervise the probe.
A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale had observed that an investigation cannot drag on for an inordinately long period, emphasising that a central agency probe was necessary to ensure a proper and substantive investigation into the matter.
“Nobody shall be treated as an accused unless, in the opinion of the investigating officer, there are sufficient grounds to raise reasonable suspicion against him depending on the material collected during the investigation,” the high court had said.
Disha Salian, 28, who had briefly worked as Rajput’s manager, died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 12th floor of a residential building in Mumbai’s Malad area.
The city police had registered an accidental death report (ADR) and subsequently claimed, after an inquiry, that it was a case of suicide.
A week later, Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on June 14, 2020, triggering speculation about a possible link between the two deaths.
The public uproar following Rajput’s death led to a CBI probe into his case. The agency later submitted a closure report stating that Rajput died by suicide, though the report is yet to be heard by the competent court.
(With agency inputs)
