Mumbai: BJP MLA Ram Kadam on Wednesday accused the then Uddhav Thackeray government of destroying the evidence in the Sushant Singh Rajput case, and demanded that the SIT probing the Disha Salian death should look into the Rajput case too.
Kadam made the demand in the Maharashtra assembly after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last week submitted a closure report in the alleged suicide case of the Bollywood actor before a court.
Kadam said the case was handed over to the CBI 68 days after Rajput’s death. The Bihar police, who had registered a case in connection with Rajput’s death, was not allowed to conduct an inquiry, he claimed.
“Sushant’s house was handed over to the owner after destroying evidence, and the furniture was removed. The house was painted. It should be probed whether it was done to destroy evidence. Why did this happen,” he asked.
Rajput (34) was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. Six days earlier, his former manager Disha Salian (28) had died after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in Malad area of the city.
Kadam further demanded that alleged role of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who was the Maharashtra chief minister during this period, in the destruction of evidence, and actor and Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty’s role should be investigated as the Special Investigation Team formed in the Disha Salian case is still at work.
The SIT should club the two cases, he said.
Congress MLA Nana Patole wondered how such issues can be brought up when a discussion on the 75 years of the Constitution was being conducted in the House.
The Assembly should function as per set norms, said Patole, a former speaker, as the opposition staged a walkout in protest.
Minister Shambhuraj Desai, speaking on behalf of the government, said he had already made it clear that the guilty will not be spared.
The SIT will probe all the information Disha’s father Satish Salian has provided to the police, he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Varun Sardesai wondered whether the ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena coalition was undermining the CBI, an agency of the central government headed by the BJP.
“The Sushant case is five years old, and for the last three years you are in power in both the state and Centre,” he pointed out.
Desai said the state government had no intention to challenge the CBI.
“Disha Salian’s father has met the police, and if he has any new information regarding his daughter’s death, it should be looked into,” said Desai.
He had been Minister of State for Home in the Uddhav Thackeray government, and he has been taught to ensure that there should be no injustice, added Desai, who is now with the Shiv Sena headed by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.
While an SIT is already probing the death of Disha Salian, her father Satish Salian on Tuesday submitted a complaint to the Joint Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, demanding registration of a case against Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and others in the case. He has also moved the Bombay High Court, seeking a fresh probe.
