‘Picture abhi baaki hai’: Nitesh Rane slams Aaditya Thackeray over ‘chose silence’ remark in Disha Salian death case

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aadtiya Thackeray on Thursday refused to comment after police told the Bombay High Court that there was no foul play in celebrity manager Disha Salian’s death and that it was a suicide.

Thackeray, who has been targeted by the opposition in the Disha Salian death case after her father Satish Salian sought an FIR to be filed against the Sena leader, said he has chosen silence despite attempts to defame him, ANI reported.

On Thursday, when reporters asked Thackeray on the Vidhan Bhavan premises about the police affidavit about no foul play in the death case, he said, “For the last five years, certain individuals have tried to tarnish my image. I never responded to them at that time and I will not respond now either.”

Responding to Thackeray’s comments, Fisheries and Port Development Minister Nitesh Rane, however, said Salian will get justice as “picture abhi baaki hai” (the film is not over yet). The ANI report quoted Rane as saying, “The news being reported is based on the SIT affidavit dated June 17. However, Disha Salian’s father has since filed another affidavit challenging it. So, the case is not over yet.”

Using a popular film dialogue, the BJP leader said, “Picture abhi baaki hai…Disha Salian will get justice.”

Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in Malad area of Mumbai. The city police had then registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR).

What the police affidavit said

The Mumbai Police on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that former celebrity manager Disha Salian had committed suicide and no foul play was found in her death, even as her father Satish Salian reiterated she was gangraped and murdered.

According to a PTI report, the police said in its affidavit that Disha had jumped off the window of a flat of her own volition, and the postmortem report mentioned no signs of sexual and/or physical assault on her body. The affidavit was filed before the high court last month.

She was under tremendous mental stress due to a dispute with her family and also because her business deals were not working out, the affidavit added. The report also said that she was drunk at the time of the incident. Foul play was ruled out by her fiancé, who was with her at the time of the incident.

Satish Salian’s allegations

Disha Salian’s father, Satish Salian, filed a petition in the High Court in March this year, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into his daughter’s death and an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray.

In the plea, he claimed his daughter was found dead under mysterious circumstances in June 2020. He alleged that she was raped and murdered and subsequently there was a politically orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons.

The petition came up for hearing on Wednesday before a bench headed by Justice AS Gadkari, which posted it for further hearing on July 16.

(With inputs from agencies)