Satish Salian, father of the late celebrity manager Disha Salian on Thursday submitted a pen drive containing what his lawyer called an ‘eyewitness account’ and video evidence to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is delving into the circumstances surrounding her death.

Salian visited the CBI’s Bandra-Kurla (BKC) complex located office and handed over the digital device to the investigating officer. Salian’s lawyer, A Agarwal, claimed that the pen drive contained the statement of an alleged eyewitness who was present at the scene and had information about how Salian was allegedly murdered.

Agarwal claimed that the evidence could help the CBI sleuths piece together the sequence of events surrounding Salian’s death and identify the people allegedly involved in the case. He added that the lawyer’s team expected the CBI to take further action on the basis of the material submitted.

CBI seized pen drive as per procedure

Agarwal said CBI officials had the pen drive examined at their laboratory after receiving it from Salian. Subsequently, the agency prepared a report detailing its contents and seized the device in accordance with procedure, in the presence of two independent witnesses.

The lawyer said officials handed over Salian a copy of the seizure report, which carried his signature as well as those of the witnesses. According to reports, the pen drive contains four files, including the alleged eyewitness statement and what Agrawal termed ‘video evidence.’ He claimed the material could help establish a chain of events linked to the alleged crime and said the evidence submitted to the CBI was linked to several accused.

Agarwal, however, denied disclosing further details, citing the sensitivity of the probe and the need to conceal the alleged eyewitness’s identity.

Earlier probe ruled out foul play

Salian, who had worked for a brief period of time with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died after falling from the 12th floor of a building in Mumbai’s Malad area at around 2:25 am on June 9, 2020.

Disha Salian (Left) and Sushant Singh Rajput (Right)

The Malwani police initially registered a case of an accidental death and concluded that Salian had died by suicide, finding no evidence of foul play. Moreover, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Maharashtra government in December 2023 also reportedly discovered no evidence of foul play.

However, the case took a fresh turn when Satish Salian knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court (HC) last year, alleging that his daughter had been gang-raped and murdered.

His lawyer, advocate Nilesh Ojha, alleged her death was the result of a ‘deep-rooted’ conspiracy involving influential people and claimed that she had been subjected to sexual assault before being pushed to death.

CBI registers case following Satish Salian’s statement

On September 11 this year, the CBI recorded Satish Salian’s statement as the first step towards registering a case. Ojha further claimed that his client had alleged gang-rape and murder, as well as a cover-up involving several police officials and other high-profile people.

On September 13, the Delhi unit of the CBI registered a case to probe Salian’s death, following an order of the Bombay HC dated September 2. The FIR registered in the case invokes relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) concerning suspected offences such as criminal conspiracy, gang-rape, murder, disappearance of evidence or providing false information to screen offenders, and alleged misconduct by public servants intended to shield individuals from punishment.