In a massive development, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the Mumbai Police will form a Special Investigation Team to probe the death of Disha Salian, here on Thursday. Addressing the assembly on Thursday, Fadnavis said, "There will be a probe by a SIT into the Disha Salian death case. If anybody has any evidence in this matter, they can furnish it to the police." He added that since the Salian case was never probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), there was no 'closure' in it -- referring to certain alleged reports claiming the CBI had closed that file.
Fadnavis said that only the Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput case was investigated by the CBI in which there was a purported 'closure report', but the Salian case shall be probed in an impartial manner with any new evidence that has come up in the matter. The Deputy Chief Minister -- who holds the home ministry portfolio -- made the statement after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Nitesh Rane and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (BSS) MLA Bharat Gogavale raised the issue and demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter in which Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray has been targeted.
Reacting, former minister Aditya Thackeray said that this was another attempt to divert attention from other major issues, shield the Governor for insulting icons and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is facing the heat in the alleged Nagpur land scam, favouring certain builders. Hitting back, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar demanded a probe into the death of a social media star, Pooja Chavan, in which a BSS leader Sanjay Rathod's name had cropped up in February 2021.
'Narco Test of Aditya Thackeray'
Rane and independent MLA Ravi Rana also demanded a narco test on Aditya Thackeray, who was reportedly attending the party in Malad suburb of Mumbai after which Salian -- a Bollywood-linked entrepreneur -- fell from the 14th floor balcony to her death on June 8, 2020. "The truth in the Salian case must come out. It is still with the Mumbai Police and not probed yet by the CBI. The final autopsy report has also not yet come and several pages of a book have not been recovered," Rane claimed.
Contending that it is still unclear how Salin fell from the building, he reiterated the demand for Adity's narco-test. A week after Salian's death, Rajput was also found hanging in his Bandra flat on June 14, 2020, and the final probe report of the CBI is awaited.
However, the Salian family has stated that it is fully satisfied with the Mumbai Police probe and do not suspect any foul-play in their daughter's death. In a letter to the President, Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, then Leader of Opposition Fadnavis and others in March 2022, the Salian couple -- Satish and Vasanti -- had said that Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane and his MLA son Nitesh Rane were 'liars' who are driving them to suicide.
They urged for help to stop the Ranes and other politicians from maligning their daughter's name for their political interests and warned that otherwise, they would be left with no alternatives but to end their lives.
(Inputs: IANS)