Aaditya Thackeray Denies Allegations in Disha Salian Death Case, Labels Them as Attempts to Tarnish His Image

Aaditya Thackeray Denies Allegations in Disha Salian Death Case: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has junked the allegations against him in the Disha Salian case as an attempt to smear his reputation and said he will respond to them in court.

His comments came a day after Satish Salian, father of Disha Salian-the former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput-moved the Bombay High Court seeking a new investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death. The petition demanded that the FIR be filed against Thackeray and that the investigation be awarded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Salian told reporters.

The petition further alleged that a politically motivated cover-up had been orchestrated to safegaurd influential persons.

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“Attempts have been made for the last five years to malign my image. We will present our side in the court and respond to the allegations there,” Thackeray, a former Maharashtra minister, told reporters.

Disha Salian died after having allegedly fallen from the 14th floor of a residential building at Malad on June 8, 2020. The Mumbai Police at first had registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR). Six days later, Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment at Bandra-from alleged suicide.

Targeting Thackeray, BJP minister Nitesh Rane cited the Supreme Court judgments and said that if a person is facing atrocities of rape charges, he should be arrested and also demanded the resignation of Thackeray as an per MLA. “We have demanded this in the House (assembly),” Rane told reporters.

In return Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve, leader of opposition in legislative council, charged BJP with orchestrating the allegations against Thakare and said the government was free to conduct any investigation.

NCP(SP) leader Jitendra Awhad also questioned the timing of raising issues as to why Disha Salian's father had kept silent for five years. “This is purely political,” he said.

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What investigations have found so far

As the controversy regarding Salian's death came on the surface, Mumbai police clarified that in the investigation, no foul play was found.

During the December 2023 Maharashtra Assembly session, BJP leader Nitesh Rane raised the issue, to which Mahayuti government came up with a Special Investigation Team under Additional Police Commissioner Rajiv Jain. However, SIT sources told The Indian Express that despite issuing multiple summonses to those alleging foul play-including Salian's family members and Rane-nobody came forward to record statements and hence the matter ended up at a dead end.

Mumbai police had previously closed the case in 2021 stating that both their inquiry nor that of the CBI regarding Sushant Singh Rajput's death found any link or evidence of criminal involvement in Salian's death. Allegations of social media which alleged that she was partying along with a politician or claims that she was pregnant were debunked by the CCTV footage, post-mortem reports and witness statements.

An officer involved in the investigation stated that Salian was psychologically disturbed because of her financial losses, attempts were made to console her by friends at the party on the night she died. The officer also disproved the finding of her being unclad as her father's own statement from the scene disproved the claims.

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