"Lot of people tried to defame me for last 5 years": Aditya Thackeray on Disha Salian's case

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 20 (ANI): Shiv Sena UBT leader Aditya Thackeray on Thursday fired back at critics in the Disha Salian death case, accusing them of trying to defame him for the past five years. Thackeray emphasized that since the matter is already in court, he'll reserve his comments for the legal proceedings.
This comes after Disha Salian's father, Satish Salian approached the Bombay High Court seeking a probe into his daughter's death and requesting the registration of an FIR against Aaditya Thackeray, among others.
"A lot of people have tried to defame me for the last five years. If the matter is in court, then we will speak in court," Thackeray told the media.
Thackeray also took a swipe at the government, claiming that his party has exposed their false promises to the people of Maharashtra, particularly regarding the budget. He further attacked the BJP, labeling their Hindutva stance as "fake" and accusing them of using Aurangzeb as a diversionary tactic. Thackeray also expressed gratitude towards the RSS for bringing sense to the BJP.
"We have exposed the Government in this session itself on the budget and the false promises they made to the people of Maharashtra. We have exposed BJP's fake Hindutva and the way they used Aurangzeb to cover up all other issues and I am thankful to the RSS to bring back sense to the BJP," the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.
Notably, Disha Salian, the former manager of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was killed in June 2020.
Satish Salian's petition urged the court to direct the registration of an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and to transfer the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Disha was found dead on June 8, 2020, days before Sushant was found hanging in his flat in suburban Bandra, Mumbai.
In 2023, the Mumbai Police formed a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe Disha Salian's death. The Mumbai Police registered an accidental death case in the matter.
Sushant, 34, was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020, which created a huge controversy, with the investigation later being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. His postmortem report stated the cause of death was asphyxia. The postmortem was conducted at Mumbai's Cooper Hospital.
Speaking on the case, Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane said, "This is not a political allegation. Is her father also lying now? Yesterday, Kishori Pednekar said that her father was asking for money. There should be a case registered for making such allegations about her father. If Uddhav Thackeray thinks we are all making political allegations, why did he call Rane Saheb and say, 'save my son in this matter?' He called Narayan Rane twice and requested him to save his son."
Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske stated that Disha's father had stated in his petition that he was being pressured, and much of the evidence was hidden.
"He took the names of people like Ekta Kapoor, Dino Morea, and Aditya Pancholi and asked for their phone records to be checked. This should be investigated. He is not making any fake allegations. Everyone knows Aaditya Thackeray's nightlife friend group. If they are innocent, then Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut should come forward and demand an enquiry into the case. Sanjay Raut used to oppose Aaditya Thackeray. But now Aaditya Thackeray has become their party's member, so Sanjay Raut cannot say anything against him," Mhaske told ANI.(ANI)