CBI has not named anyone as an accused or suspect in the case.
Mumbai: In a development that may have a bearing on Maharashtra politics, the CBI has filed an FIR into the six-year-old case involving the mysterious death of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s talent manager Disha Salian.
The CBI registered the FIR subsequent to the directions of the Bombay High Court and thereafter recorded the statement of Satish Salian, who is Disha Salian’s father.
In his complaint to the CBI, Salian named the then Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray for alleged cover-up. Others mentioned in the complaint are Uddhav’s son and MLA Aaditya Thackeray and his bodyguards, former Home Minister and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh, former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh, dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, actor-model Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty, model Dino Morea, actor Sooraj Pancholi and Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishal Thakur.
Besides, he named several officers of the Malvani police station, the doctors who conducted the post-mortem and officers of Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina.
However, the CBI has not named anyone as an accused or suspect in the case.
Disha Salian (28), the talent manager of Sushant Singh Rajput, who was a resident of Shivaji Park at Dadar, died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 14th floor penthouse in the Galaxy Regent building at Malvani in Malad, where her partner Rohan Rai used to stay.
Around a week later, on June 14, 2020, the body of Sushant Singh Rajput (34) was found hanging from the ceiling of his rented duplex accommodation in Mont Blanc Apartments in the upscale Bandra — which is suspected to be a case of suicide.
The CBI registered the FIR after preliminary verification of the complaint of Disha Salian’s father, and his recording of his statement.
“Yes, we have solid evidence,” Salian said, adding: “I have taken the names of Aaditya Thackeray and his bodyguard, Sooraj Pancholi, Dino Morea, Sachin Waze, Param Bir Singh, and in the cover-up, Rhea Chakraborty before the CBI.”
“On the basis of the statement given by Disha Salian’s father, Satish Salian, an FIR has been registered. The statement establishes that Disha Salian was subjected to heinous crimes—she was gang-raped and subsequently murdered,” said advocate Nilesh Ojha, who represented Salian in the Bombay High Court.
On September 2, a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Sarang Kotwal and Justice Ranjitsinha Bhonsale said: “The officer attached to the CBI, who is in charge of the Mumbai region, shall appoint a suitably experienced and senior CBI officer as the Investigating Officer (IO) in this case. Such officer shall record the statement of the petitioner and register the FIR. The IO shall conduct the investigation regarding all aspects surrounding the circumstances in which the petitioner’s daughter lost her life.”