On Thursday, BJP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane demanded the arrest and interrogation of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Aditya Thackeray over the death of Disha Salian, the ex-manager of deceased Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Disha Salian fell off the 14th floor of a Malad apartment building on June 8, 2020, and the Mumbai Police had initially ruled it as an Accidental Death Report. Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead six days later in his Bandra home, which was initially termed as suicide but was later taken over by the CBI for investigation.
Rane's demand follows after Disha Salian's father lodged a petition stating that his daughter was gang-raped and killed. The petition also asked for an FIR to be filed against Aditya Thackeray and the probe to be handed over to the CBI.
"This is a clean and straight case. Why is Aditya Thackeray being shielded? If he is not involved, why is he shirking the probe?" Rane asked. There's a Supreme Court judgment that says that if somebody is accused of rape, one has to file a case against them first. According to that rule, one should file a case against Aditya Thackeray, and he should be arrested and interrogated.
Like anybody else who is implicated in this case, he should be given the same legal treatment," he further added.
Rane underscored the fact that people such as Aditya Thackeray, Suraj Pancholi, and Dino Morea need to be probed. "If they are innocent, the probe will establish that. If Aditya Thackeray thinks this was a suicide and he is being framed, then he must undergo the probe, produce the required evidence, and prove himself innocent," Rane said.
Countering Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut's statement questioning the timing of the petition, Rane highlighted that Aditya Thackeray, son of ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, had been associated with the case for five years. "Disha Salian's father was subjected to a lot of pressure not to make a statement. He himself acknowledged that he was pressured not to utter a word," Rane alleged.
He also questioned former mayor Kishori Pednekar's intentions, posing, "Why did Kishori Pednekar, who is named in the petition, go to his residence at that moment?"
Politicians were urged to back away from the issue by Rane, noting it concerned a young woman who had been gang-raped and killed. "It's about delivering justice to her, and that's our only stand," said Rane. He insisted that Disha Salian's father was not politically motivated but was only looking for justice for his daughter. "Disha Salian's father approached the court and many more have follow-up on it. He now firmly believes that his daughter did not commit suicide but was killed," Rane stated, calling for the case to be investigated properly.
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