Mumbai, September 16, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Advocate Nilesh Ojha, representing late Disha Salian’s father Satish Salian, has claimed that Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede is among four witnesses in the case concerning the former celebrity manager’s death.
The statement comes days after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered an FIR following the Bombay High Court’s direction for a fresh probe into the circumstances surrounding Salian’s death. The High Court, while ordering the CBI investigation, had also clarified that no individual should be treated as an accused without sufficient material emerging during the investigation.
Speaking to IANS, Ojha said Wankhede had been a witness for the legal team “from the very beginning”, but that his name had not previously been made public.
Ojha further claimed that Wankhede had obtained important data during an earlier investigation, including mobile tower location information concerning Aaditya Thackeray, Sooraj Pancholi, Dino Morea and others. He alleged that the data placed them at the location linked to the case. These claims have not been independently established and will be subject to verification in the CBI investigation.
Ojha also said the legal team planned to submit additional material to the CBI, including evidence that he claimed was connected to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He described the material as potentially significant to the investigation.
The Bombay High Court had ordered a CBI probe on September 2 after observing discrepancies in the earlier investigation and directing the agency to examine all aspects surrounding Salian’s death. The court, however, specifically cautioned that the FIR and probe should not be treated as a finding of guilt against any individual.
The CBI subsequently registered an FIR on September 13 and began recording statements and conducting further investigation. The FIR invokes provisions relating to criminal conspiracy, gang rape, murder, disappearance of evidence and alleged dereliction by public servants, but no accused has been named in the FIR, according to reports.
Ojha said a substantial part of the legal team’s work had already been addressed through the High Court proceedings and referred to the court’s observations regarding alleged shortcomings in the earlier investigation.
Wankhede, a 2008-batch IRS officer, has previously been associated with several high-profile investigations, including the 2021 cruise ship drug case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.
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