Woman's Presence Surfaces in Disha Salian Death Probe After CBI Registers FIR
A constable's 2020 statement says a woman accompanied two men who brought Disha Salian to Shatabdi Hospital, a detail now surfacing after the CBI registered an FIR in the case.
An unidentified woman has emerged as a fresh thread in the investigation into the death of Disha Salian, the former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials connected with the probe have said. According to a statement recorded from a police constable posted at Mumbai's Shatabdi Hospital, Salian was brought to the facility on the night of June 8, 2020, by three people — two men and a woman.
The constable, Santosh Kachirat Gungune, gave the account on June 15, 2020, citing information he had received from a hospital doctor. Until now, the known version of events held that two men had taken Salian to the hospital. While those two men have been identified, the woman remains untraced, and other accounts on record make no mention of her presence.
Salian's fiancé, Rohan Rai, and others linked to the case have named her friends Himanshu Shikhare and Indraneel Vaidya as the persons who brought her to the hospital. Salian died after falling from the 14th floor of a residential building in the Malad area of Mumbai. She was declared dead at Shatabdi Hospital. It is not clear whether investigators have obtained CCTV footage from the hospital's entrance, parking or emergency areas.
The detail has come to light days after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered an FIR in the matter on Monday, invoking sections relating to murder and related offences. The FIR names Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, actors Dino Morea, Sooraj Pancholi and Rhea Chakraborty, and doctors and other medical staff among those whose roles require investigation. Aaditya Thackeray has denied any link to the case, as have the others named.
The FIR states that the then chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, father of Aaditya Thackeray, and others played a significant role in an alleged conspiracy and subsequent cover-up. It adds that public servants and police officers concerned are liable to be investigated for destruction or suppression of case papers, files and other public records, fabrication of official records, and misuse of public funds, manpower and police machinery for unlawful purposes and for shielding offenders. Before registering the case, the agency wrote to Mumbai Police seeking all documents and records connected to Salian's death.
The Bombay High Court ordered the CBI probe on September 2, acting on a petition filed by Salian's father, Satish Salian, who alleged lapses by Mumbai Police in the investigation. The court criticised the police for failing to register an FIR for six years, observing that the investigation raised more questions than answers and pointing to glaring discrepancies. It also noted that the family had not been provided copies of the post-mortem report or the Accidental Death Report six years after her death.
Police had initially registered an Accidental Death Report and, after an inquiry, concluded that Salian died by suicide. Satish Salian moved the High Court last year, alleging that his daughter was murdered. Last week, he recorded his statement before the CBI, in which he alleged that several people, including Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray, played a significant role in an alleged conspiracy and cover-up.
In 2020, Mumbai Police had denied any link between Salian's death and that of Rajput, who was found dead at his Bandra flat days after Salian died.