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Mumbai Police on Tuesday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to probe the death of Disha Salian, the ex-manager of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, an official said, more than three years after she allegedly committed suicide.
Speaking in Nagpur, where the state legislature is currently having its winter session, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said necessary instructions have been given to the police department.
"In the last session of the state legislature, a demand was raised in the Assembly (for setting up an SIT). The government had stated that evidence will be examined and instructions will be given to the police department. Accordingly, instructions have been given to them," Fadnavis, who handles the Home portfolio, told reporters when asked if the SIT has been formed in the Salian case.
In Mumbai, a police official said suburban Malvani police station's senior inspector Chimaji Adhav will investigate the case and the probe will be supervised by Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajay Bansal.
Rajiv Jain, Additional Commissioner of Police (North Region), will head the SIT.
The probe team will review the documents related to the case, and if necessary, call people linked to the matter to record their statements, the official said.
Salian (28) was found dead on June 8, 2020, days before Rajput (34) was found hanging in his flat in suburban Bandra in Mumbai.
According to police, Salian allegedly committed suicide by jumping from a high-rise building in Malad.
Her father Satish Salian had written to police stating that he didn't suspect any foul play in his daughter's death.
He had also expressed 'complete satisfaction' with the probe by Mumbai Police.
Reacting to the formation of the SIT, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut said the party cannot be cowed down with such pressure tactics.
Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Raut said they can hand over the investigation to American and Russian spy agencies, the CIA and KGB, respectively.
"We do not pay heed to such pressure tactics. Set up an SIT or hand over the probe to the CIA or KGB. The Central and state governments are a factory to malign their political opponents," Raut said.
"The time of the current dispensation is spent only on setting up SITs against opposition leaders," he alleged and claimed Maharashtra will see a change of government in 2024.
The death of Salian was at the centre of political allegations in the state with the BJP, then in the opposition, accusing the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government of hushing up the matter.
The announcement to set up an SIT was made by Fadnavis in the winter session of the state legislature last year.
Some leaders had alleged that Salian was murdered and sought to drag the name of MLA Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, into the case.
Notably, BJP MLC Pravin Darekar last week said several leaders had been demanding for long that an SIT be formed. His colleague Prasad Lad had said an SIT would clear all doubts (about Salian's case).
Earlier in the day, Uddhav Thackeray told reporters in Nagpur that he didn't have any official information about the formation of the SIT in the Salian case.
"If anything official comes out, then that day we will reveal the information we have about them. If they level false allegations against us, then we will bring out the true information against them," the Sena-UBT leader said without naming anyone.
Shiv Sena-UBT leader Ambadas Danve told reporters that the announcement for SIT was made last year as well and that Salian's death was investigated on earlier occasions also.
"I demand that an SIT probe also be initiated into Judge Loya's death. If you want to probe Disha Salian's death, you can do it....Politics is being done," Danve told reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan premises in Nagpur where the winter session of the state legislature is currently underway.