Disha Salian’s father sends ₹500-crore defamation notice to Aaditya Thackeray

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Aaditya Thackeray has denied any connection with Disha Salian or her death. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Former celebrity manager Disha Salian’s father, Satish Salian, has sent a ₹500-crore defamation notice to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh over remarks made about him while he is pursuing a fresh probe into his daughter’s death.

The notice seeks ₹500 crore in compensation for what it describes as “false, malicious and defamatory allegations” against Mr. Salian and for “falsely portraying his pursuit of justice as politically motivated, mala fide and actuated by ulterior motives”.

Referring to Mr. Thackeray, the notice stated, “Being yourself specifically named as one of the principal offenders in the FIR complaint containing allegations of gang rape, murder, conspiracy and destruction/suppression of evidence, you chose to intervene in the aforesaid proceedings and actively opposed his (Satish’s) petition seeking registration of an FIR and an independent investigation into those allegations.”

Mr. Thackeray on Wednesday denied any connection with Disha or her death. “I have never met or known Disha Salian. Linking my name to this tragic case is a deliberate, evidence-free attempt at character assassination by a few individuals with clear political and personal motives, for almost 6 years,” he stated in a post on X.

The Central Bureau of Investigation registered a fresh FIR on September 14 following the Bombay High Court’s September 2 order directing an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Salian’s death.

Disha, 28, a former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died on June 8, 2020, after allegedly falling from a residential building in Mumbai’s Malad. Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence six days later.

Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday denied that his family had any connection with the case and warned of legal action if what he described as a campaign of “character assassination” continued.

“We have no connection with this case. Aaditya has also said so. This issue is not merely about me. Such character assassination can take place with you people too,” the former Maharashtra Chief Minister told presspersons.

Mr. Uddhav said his party had remained quiet while a Special Investigation Team was probing the case. “Those who want to investigate can keep investigating. But enough of this pointless character assassination, or else we will initiate legal steps,” he said.

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