‘Cut through the noise’: Aaditya Thackeray denies link to Disha Salian case

The Bombay high court has ordered the CBI to register an FIR in the Disha Salian death case based on the statement of her father Satish Salian

Mumbai : Days after an FIR was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Disha Salian death case of 2020, in which her father named Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as an accused, Thackeray denied any connection with her. He said the allegation against him was “character assassination” that had been going on for the past six years.

Aaditya Thackeray said the allegation against him was “character assassination” that had been going on for the past six years. (Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times)

In the first week of September, the Bombay high court ordered the CBI to register an FIR in the Disha Salian death case based on the statement of her father Satish Salian. Disha, who was a celebrity manager and handled the account of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died in Mumbai in June 2020. A week later, Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment, triggering speculation about a possible link between the two deaths.

On September 2, the Bombay High Court ordered a CBI probe into Salian’s death while pulling up the Mumbai Police for failing to register an FIR for six years, observing that its investigation raises more questions than answers. While ordering CBI to register an FIR in the case, the court had said that “nobody shall be treated as an accused unless, in the opinion of the investigating officer, there are sufficient grounds to raise reasonable suspicion against them”. Satish Salian has claimed that Disha did not commit suicide but was raped and murdered.

He also alleged that powerful people were behind the crime, naming Aaditya Thackeray among them.

In this backdrop, Aaditya Thackeray posted on social media on Wednesday, calling the attempts to link his name to Salian’s death were “deliberate, evidence-free efforts at character assassination”. “Let’s cut through the noise and talk facts, once again: I have never met or known Disha Salian. Linking my name to this tragic case constantly is a deliberate, evidence-free attempt at character assassination by a few individuals with clear political and personal motives, for almost 6 years,” said Thackeray. Describing it as a “relentless smear campaign”, he added that “loud TV debates and media trials do not change the facts”.