Cinema VinesActor Sooraj Pancholi has come forward to deny any link to the death of celebrity manager Disha Salian after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a First Information Report (FIR) on September 14. The FIR, which was prompted by a directive from the Bombay High Court to investigate Salian’s 2020 death, lists several names, including Pancholi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, Rhea Chakraborty and Dino Morea. Pancholi’s name resurfacing in the document has led him to issue a public statement clarifying his position.
In his statement, posted late on September 14, Pancholi said he has never met Disha Salian, either directly or indirectly, and also never met Aaditya Thackeray. He described the repeated association of his name with the case as “very unfair and extremely upsetting,” noting that no evidence has been presented to connect him to the circumstances surrounding Salian’s death. “I have decided to put this out because I feel it is important to put certain facts clearly in the public domain,” he wrote.
Pancholi added that he had previously been questioned by the CBI and police during an earlier investigation into Salian’s death, with his statement recorded about four to five years ago. He emphasized that he has nothing to hide and is willing to cooperate with the ongoing probe if required. The actor’s remarks come after the CBI’s FIR, which, while naming several individuals, does not itself establish guilt or wrongdoing.
The Bombay High Court had instructed the CBI to conduct the investigation without naming anyone as an accused at the outset, a directive that the agency has now followed by including names in the FIR. Pancholi’s statement seeks to distance himself from the allegations and to reassure the public that his involvement, if any, is limited to a previous interview and not to the events leading to Salian’s death.
