She also received the Gold Medal for Best Investigating Officer in 2021. New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has assigned SP Seema Pahuja to supervise its investigation into the death of Disha Salian, the former manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. She is presently posted with the CBI’s Special Crime Unit at its Delhi headquarters, has worked on several high-profile criminal cases, including the Hathras, Unnao and RG Kar investigations.
Salian, 28, died after falling from a high-rise building in Mumbai’s Malad area on June 8, 2020. Her death occurred six days before Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14. The Mumbai police had treated her death as suicide, while a Maharashtra SIT later found no foul play.
The agency will therefore first examine the allegations, statements and available evidence before deciding whether any person should face further action. The court had specifically directed the CBI not to treat anyone as an accused unless the investigating officer finds sufficient grounds for reasonable suspicion from the evidence collected during the investigation.
Pahuja will supervise a team that is expected to probe the events surrounding Salian’s death on the intervening night of June 8 and 9, 2020. The court on September 2 directed the central probing agency to register an FIR and conduct an investigation. The agency registered the FIR on September 13 based on the complaint and has started recording statements as part of the investigation.
Investigators are also expected to record statements of people who were present at a gathering at the Mumbai home of the deceased’s fiancé, Rohan Roy, before her death. The CBI investigation will examine what happened around the time of Salian’s death and assess the allegations made by her father, Satish Salian. He approached the Bombay High Court seeking a fresh investigation, alleging that his daughter had been raped and murdered and that evidence had been suppressed. The CBI is expected to examine people who were present at the gathering at Rohan Roy’s residence on the night before Salian’s death. Her father later approached the high court and sought a fresh investigation into the circumstances of her death. The court directed the CBI to take up the case and register an FIR.
The team will examine available documents, digital material, forensic evidence and earlier investigation records. Investigators will also examine the earlier police inquiry, medical and forensic records, digital evidence and other material available in the case.
