Truth Delayed

The Bombay High Court’s decision to hand the Disha Salian death case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a welcome, though long overdue move. For six years, the death of the 28-year-old celebrity manager has remained trapped between an official narrative and a cloud of unanswered questions. Salian fell from the 14th floor of a Mumbai building on June 8, 2020. Six days later, actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whom she had managed, was found dead. The coincidence has since fuelled...

min read

The Bombay High Court’s decision to hand the Disha Salian death case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a welcome, though long overdue move. For six years, the death of the 28-year-old celebrity manager has remained trapped between an official narrative and a cloud of unanswered questions. Salian fell from the 14th floor of a Mumbai building on June 8, 2020. Six days later, actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whom she had managed, was found dead. The coincidence has since fuelled enormous public speculation. The disturbing question is why it took so long for the machinery of justice to seriously address the allegations made by Salian’s own father. Satish Salian has alleged that his daughter was sexually assaulted and murdered and has sought an FIR naming Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and others. The Mumbai Police and state authorities had maintained that there was no foul play. When a bereaved parent continues to raise serious questions about the circumstances of a child’s death, the answer cannot simply be bureaucratic closure. The High Court has now opened the case to an independent investigation. The CBI has been directed to register an FIR and investigate all aspects of the circumstances surrounding Salian’s death. The court has also made clear that nobody should be treated as an accused unless the investigation establishes a reasonable basis for doing so. There should be no political protection racket in the name of preserving reputations. If the allegations of murder and sexual assault are false, the investigation should establish that conclusively. If they are true, those responsible must face the law. And that includes the powerful and well-connected. Too many cases where involving influence, political connections or proximity to power have created a justified suspicion that ordinary rules do not apply to extraordinary people. It is time that corrosive public perception changed. The significance of the High Court’s order lies in restoring a credible search for answers – something that has not been in evidence in the last six years. When allegations of foul play are made by the family and an FIR is not registered, questions about the adequacy of the original investigation are inevitable. The court has now ensured that those questions are examined rather than allowed to gather dust. The CBI must now go beyond the competing narratives that have surrounded the case since 2020. Its job is to establish, through evidence, what happened that night, whether the circumstances of Salian’s death were properly investigated in the first place, and whether there is any basis for the serious allegations made by her father. After six years, the Salian family deserves more than competing versions of events. It deserves the truth. So does the public.

Dangerous Departures

Correspondent
Oct 29, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Oct 30, 2024

In yet another shocking incident adding to Mumbai’s infamous tryst with stampedes, chaos erupted at Mumbai’s Bandra Terminus following a weekend stampede that left at least ten persons injured, two critically so. A crowd surged toward the Gorakhpur-bound train with nearly 1,500 people vying for seats in 22 unreserved compartments, leading to the stampede. Several others narrowly avoided tragedy, with some even pushed onto the tracks. This is not a unique episode but rather a recurring theme in Mumbai’s bedevilled crowd management, one that has haunted the city’s public spaces, particularly as festive seasons magnify the crowds.

Mumbai is no stranger to stampedes. A horrifying incident in 2017 at Elphinstone Road Station left 23 people dead and nearly 50 injured. The cause was a familiar one: an overwhelming crowd confined to a narrow footbridge during peak rush hour. The tragedy sparked an outcry, with promises from authorities to upgrade infrastructure and enhance safety protocols. Yet seven years on, crowd-related incidents continue to be a constant danger. Today’s incident reveals a similar lapse—a lack of foresight in managing the thousands who gather on platforms ahead of Diwali, eager to return to family. That the Gorakhpur Express was unreserved and heavily crowded was predictable.

The issue lies beyond simply crowd density; it is emblematic of deeper systemic negligence. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), responsible for local public safety, along with the Railways Ministry, bear responsibility for ensuring order at such high-risk hubs. Although the BMC acknowledged the “festive rush,” it appears little was done to pre-empt it. Swift action could have been taken to either disperse the crowd or reroute passengers. Instead, chaos prevailed.

Political reaction has been swift but uninspiring. Aaditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav Thackeray, launched a scathing attack on the Union Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, branding the incident a result of the minister’s “incapable” leadership. This hardly addresses the immediate need: a substantive plan to manage crowds and prevent similar incidents.

Mumbai’s transport infrastructure remains sorely outdated. Platforms are undersized, signalling systems frequently falter, and crowd control mechanisms are grossly inadequate. Despite repeated accidents, there has been little investment in comprehensive crowd management systems or the deployment of personnel trained in emergency response. While railway footbridges were widened after the Elphinstone tragedy, Bandra’s incident demonstrates that such incremental changes are insufficient. Mumbai, which sees a swelling populace during festivals, demands a robust strategy to address its vulnerabilities. This should include technology-driven crowd monitoring, clear communication channels to inform passengers of platform conditions, and additional security and medical staff on high-demand days. It is essential that crowd management training for personnel becomes a priority rather than a reaction to tragedies.

Truth Delayed

Dangerous Departures

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