Maharashtra Deputy CM Fadnavis announces SIT for Disha Salian case: What is the case about?

Thackeray later told reporters outside the Assembly that the issue had been raised to “protect” the Chief Minister, referring to the row over the regularisation of land of the Nagpur Investment Trust, for which Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has come under Opposition attack.

What is the case and what has the official investigation revealed so far?

Who was Disha Salian?

Disha Salian, 28, was a celebrity manager, whose clients included the late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput and actor Varun Sharma. Around a week prior to Rajput’s death by suicide on June 14, 2020, Salian reportedly died by suicide, on June 8, 2020.

As per procedure, the local police had taken an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in the matter as the post-mortem did not reveal any foul play.

What was the case surrounding her death?

A few weeks after the Rajput’s death, social media accounts that appeared to be coordinating with each other with the similar kind of content that they posted, started circulating theories about his death.

The theories claimed he had been murdered and that his death was also linked to Salian, who they alleged was also murdered. It was also speculated that some politicians were linked to Salian’s murder.

What did the police find in the probe of the Disha Salian case?

As per senior officers of the Mumbai police, the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case, after conducting an investigation over several months, sent a report to the Assistant Commissioner of Police for a ‘final summary’ in 2021. It was believed that there was no foul play in Salian’s death.

The report included the post-mortem report, an inquest panchnama, a house search panchnama and statements from her family members. As per Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code, an inquest panchnama is conducted after a person dies as a result of a crime or under suspicious circumstances. The panchnama is required to be conducted in presence of witnesses and a report is drawn on the apparent cause of death along with details of injuries and their possible causes. The ACP then summarised the case.

An officer said that while generally ADRs are “summarised” or closed much sooner if no foul play is found, in this case, it was delayed due to the allegations that were surfacing. However, many of the major allegations proved false, the police reported.

An allegation that she had “partied with politicians” days before her death was found to be false by the police when they checked the CCTV cameras at her fiance’s building, where she was staying.

“In the days she was there, she just came out once to take delivery for something she had ordered. She did not attend any party outside,” the officer said. The allegation that she was pregnant was also proved wrong by the post-mortem. Lastly, the allegation that there were no clothes on her when her body was found on the ground floor of her building was negated by her father, who came to the spot soon after her death, the officer said.

What did the police investigation find in the Sushant Singh Rajput case?

Mumbai police, which was conducting the investigation, did not find any foul play in the death of the actor, either. But based on the statement of the actor’s family members, an FIR on charges of abetment to suicide was registered by the Bihar police.

Later, this case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. However, so far the CBI has not charged anyone or made any statement about what has been found in the probe.