Mumbai cops form SIT to probe death of Sushant Singh Rajput's ex-manager Disha Salian
Mumbai, Dec 12: Mumbai Police on Tuesday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of Disha Salian, the ex-manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, an official said.
He said Malvani police station senior inspector Chimaji Adhav will investigate the case and the investigation will be supervised by Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajay Bansal.
Salian (28) was found dead on June 8, 2020, days before Rajput (34) was found hanging in his flat in suburban Bandra in Mumbai. According to police, Salian allegedly committed suicide by jumping from a high-rise building in Malad.
Her father Satish Salian had written to police stating that he didn't suspect any foul play in his daughter's death. He had also expressed "complete satisfaction" with the probe by Mumbai Police.
Reacting to the formation of the SIT, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the party cannot be cowed down with such pressure tactics.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Raut said they can hand over the investigation to American and Russian spy agencies, the CIA and KGB, respectively.
"We do not pay heed to such pressure tactics. Set up an SIT or hand over the probe to the CIA or KGB. The Central and state governments are a factory to malign their political opponents," Raut said.
"The time of the current dispensation is spent only on setting up SITs against opposition leaders," he alleged and claimed Maharashtra will see a change of government in 2024.
The death of Salian was at the center of political allegations in the state with the BJP, then in the opposition, accusing the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government of hushing up the matter.
The announcement to set up an SIT in the Salian case was made by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads the Home Department, in the winter session of the state legislature last year.
Some leaders had alleged that Salian was murdered and sought to drag the name of MLA Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, into the case.
Notably, BJP MLC Pravin Darekar last week said several leaders had been demanding for long that an SIT be formed. His colleague Prasad Lad had said an SIT would clear all doubts (about Salian's case).
Earlier in the day, Uddhav Thackeray told reporters in Nagpur that he didn't have any official information about the formation of the SIT in the Salian case.
"If anything official comes out, then that day we will reveal the information we have about them. If they level false allegations against us, then we will bring out the true information against them," the Sena (UBT) leader said without naming anyone.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve told reporters that the announcement for SIT was made last year as well and that Salian's death was investigated on earlier occasions also.
"I demand that an SIT probe also be initiated into Judge Loya's death. If you want to probe Disha Salian's death, you can do it....Politics is being done," Danve told reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan premises in Nagpur where the winter session of the state legislature is currently underway.
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Catholic Bishops' body slams Bhagwat's remarks
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.
