Mumbai, March 20: Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane on Thursday demanded that Shiv Sena(UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray should be arrested and interrogated in the Disha Salian death case.

Disha Salian, a former manager of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput reportedly fell from the 14th floor of an apartment building on June 8, 2020, in Malad, leading to her death, an Accidental Death Report by the Mumbai Police said. Six days later, on June 14, 2020, Sushant Singh was found dead in his Bandra residence, which was initially ruled a suicide but later handed over to the CBI.

Minister Rane’s demand comes after the father of Disha Salian in a petition has alleged that his daughter was gang-raped and murdered. The petitioner also appealed to the court to register an FIR against Shiv Sena(UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray and transfer the probe to the CBI.

“This is a very simple, straightforward case. Why does Aditya Thackeray need to be saved from this? If he has no involvement, then why is he running away so much?” asked Rane. “There was a Supreme Court judgment, according to which, if anyone is charged with rape, a case has to be registered against him first. According to that rule, a case should be registered against Aditya Thackeray and he should be arrested. He should be questioned,… in fact, all those are named in this case, the same justice that is meted out to other people should be meted out to Aditya Thackeray,” he said.

“Whether it is Aditya Thackeray, Suraj Pancholi or Dino Morea, they should be investigated, if they have no hand in this case, the investigation will reveal that. If Aditya Thackeray believes that this was suicide, he has nothing to do with this case, he is being implicated, then it is very simple he should face the investigation, tell the truth, provide evidence and prove us all wrong,” he said.

Commenting on Shiv Sena(UBT) MP Sanjay Raut questioning the timing of the petition, Rane said, “During those five years, his own name (Aditya Thackeray), the son of the former Chief Minister of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (Uddhav Thackeray), had come up in the case. You should hear from Disha Salian’s father how much pressure he had put on them. He (Disha Salian’s father) himself had said that there was a lot of pressure on him not to say anything,” he claimed.

He also questioned, “Why did Kishori Pednekar (former mayor who has been named in the petition) go to his house then?”

Rane stated that all politicians should now step aside in this matter, a girl was gang-raped, and she was murdered. “Now she should get justice, that’s all we have to say, that’s our only position,” he added.

“Disha Salian’s father has nothing to do with politics, he presented a stand, and he went to court. Many people are following up on this case. And now Disha Salian’s father is convinced that his daughter did not commit suicide, that there was something wrong with her, that she was murdered,” said Rane and reiterated that this case should be investigated.

Mumbai, March 20: Shiv Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut questioned the timing of the petition filed by the father of Disha Salian, who was late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s former manager, seeking a CBI probe into the circumstances under which she was found dead in June 2020.

The petitioner has appealed to the court to register an FIR against Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray.

Disha Salian’s father Satish has alleged that his daughter was gang raped and murdered.

“I don’t know what is in the petition. But the time chosen for the petition is when the atmosphere in Maharashtra is heated over Aurangzeb. Some power is working behind the petitioner. All powers are behind them. Discussion is being created around that petition, leaving aside the Aurangzeb issue. There is no need to name the people who are behind this,” said Raut.

“The continuous efforts to defame the Thackeray family are visible through this when the Aurangzeb case has turned against the government. There was an attempt to take Aurangzeb out of the grave and release him on us. Therefore, this case has been brewing for the last four days to get rid of Aurangzeb,” alleged Sanjay Raut.

“It is not the culture of Maharashtra to throw mud on the future and career of a young leader in this way. These experiments were done on many leaders like us. Nothing came out of it,” he said.

“Who is behind this? Who has the power? We have all the information about who was moving behind this. If you are going to do politics in this way, then that politics will be a disaster for you,” he warned.

“Many such cases happen in Maharashtra and in the country. Family members and parents come forward for justice. They try to seek justice. They cooperate with the police investigation. This is a tradition. After five years, they say that there was pressure on us. How can you believe this?” he asked.

“The party has digested so many attacks and is moving forward aggressively. The party has emerged anew under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. Then if we say that such graves have to be dug up, the graves of Justice Lohia and Sohrabuddin will have to be dug up, just like in Maharashtra, from Ramesh Govekar in Konkan to Ankush Rane and Satyavijay Bhisen, there are hundreds of such graves in the entire state of Maharashtra and their investigation will have to be done anew,” said Raut.

Former Mayor Kishori Pednekar also suspected a conspiracy behind the filing of the petition. She also questioned why the petition was filed almost five years after the CID had investigated it and the SIT probe was underway.

New Delhi, March 20: Senior BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya on Thursday said there was a major Bangladeshi birth certificate scam going on in Maharashtra. He claimed that 52 infiltrators from the neighbouring country had fraudulently obtained birth certificates.

Somaiya said six FIRs have been filed against these 52 in the state.

The Bangladeshi nationals were living in various cities in the Akola district, Maharashtra, and had obtained birth certificates by submitting fake documents.

The FIRs have been filed in Akot, Telhara, Barshitakali, Ramdaspeth (Akola city), Murtijapur, and Patur police stations under sections 3(5), 229, 236, 237, 318(4), 336(3), 340(2) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS).

The BJP leader said, “It was a case of Bangladeshi birth certificate scam. Six FIRs have been filed against 52 infiltrators from Bangladesh.”

He gave a list of the infiltrators who had obtained the birth certificates fraudulently. The list of 52 has around 12 women who have also secured birth certificates.

Earlier, this month Somaiya exposed a massive illegal birth certificate racket that has allowed thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas to obtain Indian citizenship fraudulently.

The scam, he claimed originated in Amravati with 4,500 fake registrations. He said that it is a statewide crisis, with over 1.3 lakh fraudulent birth certificates issued.

Somaiya has demanded immediate cancellation of these certificates, arrests of corrupt officials, and an overhaul of the birth registration system. He has also submitted 478 pages of evidence to the police,

The BJP leader stated, “We are witnessing the most dangerous infiltration scam in Maharashtra’s history.”

On Tuesday, Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam informed the Maharashtra Assembly that the government has asked developers and contractors in Mumbai to give an undertaking that they do not employ Bangladeshis in their projects. If any Bangladeshi is noticed in the project, it is their responsibility to inform the police, he said.

In January, the Maharashtra government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the issuance of birth and death certificates on “delayed” applications amid complaints of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in parts of the state.