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. She also received the Gold Medal for Best Investigating Officer in 2021.
The Mumbai police had treated her death as suicide, while a Maharashtra SIT later found no foul play. 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.
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.
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. Her previous assignments also include the 2024 RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case in Kolkata. She had earlier worked on the 2017 Gudiya rape and murder case in Shimla, where the CBI investigation eventually led to the conviction of a woodcutter.
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.
