Satish Salian, father of Disha Salian, former manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, on Wednesday said he has moved the Bombay high court seeking a fresh probe into the mysterious circumstances under which she was found dead in June 2020.
The petition urges the HC to order registration of a First Information Report against Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Aaditya Thackeray and transfer of the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation, he said.
His lawyer Nilesh Ojha, however, said they were still in the process of filing the petition, and would get it numbered at the HC registry department on Thursday.
The plea alleged that Disha Salian was brutally raped and murdered, and subsequently there was a politically-orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons.
The petitioner initially believed that the probe conducted by the city police was genuine, but has now learnt that it was a cover-up, it said.
"The Mumbai police hastily closed the death as a case of suicide or accidental death without taking into account forensic evidence, circumstantial proof and eyewitness testimonies," the plea said.
Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in suburban Malad. The city police had then registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) case.
Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. While the city police initially said it was a case of suicide, the case was handed over to the CBI later.
Reactions from Aaditya Thackeray or the Sena-UBT were awaited.
Bharatiya Janata Party minister Nitesh Rane, meanwhile, latched on to the development to target Aaditya, a former Maharashtra minister.
"Aaditya Thackeray should speak the truth. He should resign as an MLA and face the probe," Rane told reporters.
The Ranes and the Thackerays have been bitter enemies ever since Nitesh Rane's father and former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane left the Shiv Sena after falling out with Uddhav Thackeray.
Nitesh Rane, meanwhile, also reiterated his allegations that CCTV footage of Salian's building was made to disappear and pages of the society's visitors' register were torn off.
"I have been saying this from day one that Disha Salian was murdered," the minister for port development and fisheries said.
Yogesh Kadam, Minister of State in the Home department, said Salian's father should submit any proof that he has to the home department.
"We will follow whatever direction the high court gives. There will be no party politics in the probe," he said.
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