The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR into the 2020 death of former celebrity manager Disha Salian, following an order of the Bombay High Court. The FIR lists several individuals whose roles are to be examined during the investigation, including Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and actor Rhea Chakraborty.
The FIR also names actors Dino Morea and Sooraj Pancholi, Rohan Roy, Aaditya Thackeray's bodyguards, Showik Chakraborty, former police officer Sachin Vaze, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, DCP Vishal Thakur and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, among others. Police officers, forensic officials, doctors and other individuals are also mentioned in the document.
According to the FIR, the listed individuals will be examined in connection with allegations including criminal conspiracy, the alleged creation and circulation of what the complaint describes as a false suicide narrative, and alleged suppression, destruction or fabrication of evidence. The FIR further alleges that some public servants and police officers may have been involved in the handling of official records.
The development follows the Bombay High Court's decision earlier this month to order a CBI investigation into Salian's death. The court had criticised aspects of the earlier police inquiry, observing that it “raises more questions than answers” and pointing to what it described as “glaring discrepancies” in the investigation.
Salian, 28, died on June 8, 2020, after falling from a residential building in Mumbai's Malad area. Mumbai Police had initially registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and maintained that its investigation had found no evidence of foul play.
Salian had briefly worked as the manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who died six days later, on June 14, 2020. The close timing of the two deaths led to widespread speculation about a possible connection, although the two cases were investigated separately. The CBI had subsequently filed a closure report in Rajput's death case, concluding that he died by suicide; that report remains before the court concerned.
Salian's father, Satish Salian, had approached the Bombay High Court seeking a fresh investigation. Speaking to ANI after giving his statement to the CBI, he said, “I stated the facts exactly as they were; I told them everything that happened to my daughter.” He also said he had provided investigators with the names of several people he wanted examined.
The High Court, however, had specifically directed that no individual should be treated as an accused unless sufficient material emerges during the investigation. The registration of an FIR and the naming of individuals in it therefore do not, by themselves, establish criminal liability.
The CBI investigation will now examine the circumstances surrounding Salian's death, the evidence collected during the earlier inquiry and the allegations raised by her family. Any further action will depend on the evidence gathered during the probe.
