1 day Ago By Mid-day
On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court directed its registry department to place before an appropriate bench the petition filed by Satish Salian, father of former celebrity manager Disha Salian, seeking a CBI probe into his daughter`s death and an FIR against MLA Aaditya Thackeray.The plea came up for a hearing before a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale.Salian`s lawyers highlighted that the petition pertains to crimes against women, and the assignment is related to the division bench headed by Justice Sarang Kotwal.
The court then directed the HC`s registry department to take steps to place the petition before that bench.Salian had last month filed a petition in HC seeking a fresh probe into the mysterious circumstances under which she was found dead in June 2020.Satish Salian stated that the petition urged the HC to register a First Information Report against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and transfer the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
As per PTI, the plea alleged that Disha Salian was brutally raped and murdered, and subsequently there was a politically-orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential people.The petitioner initially believed that the probe conducted by the city police was genuine but has learnt that it was a cover-up, the plea stated."The Mumbai police hastily closed the death as a case of suicide or accidental death without taking into account forensic evidence, circumstantial proof and eyewitness testimonies," the plea stated, reported PTI.
Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in suburban Malad. The city police had then registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) case.Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020.
While the city police initially stated it was a case of suicide, the case was handed over to the CBI later.The CBI last month submitted a closure report in the case.Disha Salian case: What really happened that night?Disha Salian’s father has called for a re-investigation into her death, deepening the mystery around the celebrity manager.
Sunday mid-day brings you an explainerDisha Salian was a 28-year-old celebrity talent manager. She had an impressive portfolio, representing Bollywood actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Varun Sharma, Prachi Desai and Bharti Singh among others.On the night of June 8, 2020, the 28-year-old Salian allegedly fell to her death from the 12th floor of her fiancé Rohan Rai’s apartment at Jankalyan Nagar in Malvani, Malad West.
She is survived by her parents, Vasanti and Satish Salian.Rai and Salian first met in 2013 after he moved to Mumbai from Delhi. He was a model.
In 2017, the couple got engaged at Salian’s parents’ home in central Mumbai. In 2018, Rai bought a two-bedroom apartment in the Malad high-rise, where they moved in together.On June 6, 2020, Salian’s college friend, Himanshu Shikre, who lived nearby, visited Rai’s apartment.
The following day, Salian and her childhood friend Indraneel Vaidya, whose birthday was on May 25, had a joint birthday celebration at the Rai-Salian home. Salian’s birthday was on May 26. The gathering included Shikre, Vaidya, Resha Padwal and another friend, Deep Ajmera.
Despite the lockdown, the friends held on to the tradition of celebrating their birthdays together. On June 7, all six of them partied. That night, Shikre, Padwal, Vaidya, and Ajmera stayed over at Rai’s apartment.
The group decided to extend the celebrations to the next day, June 8.Most of June 8 was spent attending work calls. At day’s end, they started drinking and ordered pizzas.
The party was in full swing eventually, with music and dancing too.Around 11 pm, Salian received a FaceTime call from her close friend Ankita, who lived in London. Salian moved to her bedroom, away from the noise.
Their conversation lasted 70 minutes while the party continued in the living room. Rai said in a 2022 interview that by the end of the call, Salian was emotional.By this time, everyone seemed to be high.
The friends checked on Salian, but she was in the bathroom. They returned to the living room. A few minutes later, they looked for her again but in vain.
The bathroom door was open. They looked for her in the house but could not find her. They noticed after a few minutes that the sliding windows of the master bedroom were open.
When Rai peeped out, he saw her lifeless below. The friends took her to hospital where she was declared dead, though some reports claimed that she was alive when found.The case was in the news for a few days since Salian was well-known because of her celebrity connections, and the nature of the death shocked many.
Conjecture, gossip and social media posts added theory upon theory. The Mumbai police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) at that time.(With inputs from PTI).
