Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar/Mumbai: Satish Salian, the father of late celebrity manager Disha Salian, on Thursday sent a defamation notice to Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, demanding Rs 500 crore in compensation for allegedly calling his demand for a CBI probe into the death politically motivated.Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, meanwhile, said he would pursue legal remedies if allegations linking his family to the 2020 case continued to be used for “character assassination” by certain politicians.While opposing Salian’s petition in Bombay HC demanding a CBI probe, Aaditya had questioned his motives and said the demand was politically motivated, malicious and actuated by an ulterior object of damaging his reputation. Deshmukh gave an interview expressing similar apprehension.Salian said Aaditya’s allegation was false, baseless, reckless and grossly defamatory, having been made without any credible material or proof and solely with a view to furthering his ulterior and improper motives. His lawyer has written to the Mumbai police commissioner seeking protection for him.Uddhav, who spoke up on the issue for the first time, said neither he nor his son Aaditya had any connection with the case and questioned the continued attempts to associate them with it. “We have no connection with this case. Aaditya has also said so. This is not an issue concerning me alone. Such character assassination can happen to you people too,” he said. “My family has been facing such allegations for years. I would take legal action if the campaign does not stop.”In its FIR filed on Monday, CBI did not name any suspect but it said the roles of many persons, including Aaditya, need to be probed. Aaditya on Wednesday denied knowing or ever having met Disha and said attempts to associate him with the case were aimed at damaging his reputation.
