MUMBAI: The CBI FIR in the 2020 Disha Salian death case mentions Aaditya Thackeray, Dino Morea, Sooraj Pancholi, Rhea Chakraborty and several others among those whose roles require investigation.The FIR says their roles need to be examined in connection with the alleged principal offences, criminal conspiracy, the alleged creation and propagation of a false suicide story, and the suppression, destruction or fabrication of evidence.However, none of them has been named as an accused at this stage.A CBI official said the FIR was registered pursuant to the court’s direction and no accused have been named at this stage. Names would be included if their involvement is established during the probe.The FIR also alleges that some public servants and police officers need to be investigated for destruction or suppression of case papers, files and other public records, fabrication of official records, and misuse of public funds, manpower and police machinery for unlawful purposes and for shielding offenders.It calls for the questioning of autopsy and forensic officials as well as several others, including the security guards of the building where Disha was found dead.The FIR specifically lists Aaditya Thackeray, Rohan Roy, Dino Morea, Sooraj Pancholi, Aaditya Thackeray’s bodyguards, Rhea Chakraborty, Showik Chakraborty, Sachin Vaze, Param Bir Singh, DCP Vishal Thakur, Uddhav Thackeray, Anil Deshmukh, API Ashok Devadhe, PI Jagdev Kalapad, PI Shailendra Nagarkar, PI Chimaji Adhav, PI Arjun Rajane and concerned officers of Malvani Police Station as persons whose roles require investigation.RG KAR CASE OFFICER TO HEAD CBI INVESTIGATIONSeema Pahuja, superintendent of police with the Special Crimes (SC-II) unit at the CBI headquarters in Delhi, will supervise the investigation into the Disha Salian case.Pahuja’s investigative portfolio includes several high-profile cases, including the 2024 RG Kar case involving the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.Her earlier investigations include the 2020 Hathras gangrape case involving the sexual assault and death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh, the 2017 Unnao rape case involving a teenager and BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was later convicted and sentenced to life, and the 2017 Kotkhai ‘Gudiya’ case involving the rape and murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh.WHY THE HIGH COURT ORDERED CBI PROBEThe CBI investigation follows the Bombay high court’s September 2 order directing the agency to probe Disha’s death.Satish Salian had alleged lapses in the investigation and questioned why Mumbai police had not registered an FIR in the six years since Disha’s death. The high court pulled up the police and pointed to “glaring discrepancies” in the probe.The court observed that the police investigation “raised more questions than answers”.The high court had also taken note of the fact that Disha’s family had not been given the post-mortem report or the accidental death report.While ordering the CBI probe, the court directed the agency that no person should be named as an accused unless there was evidence against them.WHAT THE CBI FIR ALLEGESThe FIR goes beyond the circumstances surrounding Disha’s death and calls for an investigation into the handling of the case by police and other officials.It alleges the need to investigate whether case papers, files or other public records were destroyed or suppressed, whether official records were fabricated, and whether public funds, manpower or police machinery were misused for unlawful purposes or to shield offenders.The agency has also sought questioning of officials involved in the autopsy and forensic processes, along with other people connected to the building, including security guards.The FIR also refers to an alleged conspiracy and the subsequent creation and propagation of what it describes as a false suicide story, as well as alleged suppression, destruction or fabrication of evidence.
