MUMBAI: Satish Salian, father of Disha Salian, celebrity PR manager of deceased actor Sushant Singh Rajput, will move Bombay high court seeking a CBI probe into her 2020 death, saying his daughter was brutally raped, murdered, and to demand immediate "custodial interrogation" of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray.
His lawyer Nilesh Ojha said they were still in the process of filing the petition. He said he would get it numbered at the high court registry department on Thursday.
Disha died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in Malad. City police had registered an accidental death report (ADR) in the case.
The petition alleged Disha was "brutally raped, murdered and subjected to a politically orchestrated cover-up". The petition claimed it seeks to expose the web of lies, corruption and suppression of facts behind the murder to protect certain influential persons.
In Feb 2022, her parents had appealed to the media and social media to leave them alone and not to malign their daughter's image.
Salian said in the initial stages he was misled by those in power, and through scrutiny of facts, independent investigations and his personal observations has now uncovered irrefutable evidence that contradicts police's fabricated narrative. "Mumbai police hastily closed the death as a case of suicide or accidental death without taking into account forensic evidence, circumstantial proofs and eyewitness testimonies," the plea said. He has cited media interviews which questioned the suicide theory.
The plea alleged: "The petitioner contends that Disha's death was not an accident or a case of suicide, as the authorities have claimed, but rather a premeditated act of violence, wherein she was brutally raped and murdered. The actions of the accused and the immediate political interference in the investigation suggest a deliberate and systematic effort to bury the truth." The petition also demanded action against some Bollywood actors and former mayor Kishori Pednekar. It said the actors and Aaditya Thackeray were present at the party, which was initially meant to be a private affair comprising Disha's friends.
Disha's father said Pednekar misled him into lodging a complaint against minister Nitesh Rane who was vocal in demanding justice. Nitesh Rane said Thackeray should speak the truth and resign as MLA. Minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam said the father should submit any proof he has to the home department. "We will follow whatever directions the high court gives." Sushant Singh was found dead on June 14, 2020. Police said it was a case of suicide.