Mumbai, Feb 18 (IANS) Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) legislator Rohit Pawar on Wednesday demanded the immediate removal of Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu and top DGCA officials until the completion of the inquiry into the death of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash in Maharashtra’s Baramati last month.
Addressing a press conference, the NCP (SP) legislator alleged a “nexus” between the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and VSR Ventures, the owner of the aircraft that crashed in Baramati on January 28. He called for the case to be reclassified as “culpable homicide” rather than “accidental death.”
Rohit Pawar called for the registration of a formal FIR against the company’s owners and the technical personnel who cleared the aircraft’s airworthiness. He also demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, arguing that since the crash involved a high-profile public figure and multiple jurisdictions, the state CID lacked the “technical teeth” and “political independence” to investigate a sector controlled by the Union government.
His demand came a day after leaders from Ajit Pawar’s faction urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek a CBI inquiry into the crash, citing safety concerns.
Rohit Pawar also sought the immediate nationwide grounding of all aircraft operated by VSR Ventures, alleging a pattern of safety violations and “suppressed” findings from a 2023 crash involving the same company. He criticised reports that the flight recorder had been found “damaged”, calling it a “scripted excuse” to destroy evidence of the final moments of the flight.
He further alleged that a 20-day delay in the investigation allowed the company to “sanitise” maintenance logs and internal WhatsApp communications. He claimed the decision to fly was taken after 7 p.m. the previous evening, following a sudden cancellation of a road journey, suggesting Ajit Pawar may have been “manoeuvred” into using that aircraft.
He once again raised the allegation that the crash might not have been accidental but could involve “conspiracy” or “sabotage”.
Rohit Pawar said the aircraft may have been deliberately “crashed” or “hit” rather than brought down solely by technical failure. Questioning the condition of the flight recorders, he said, “The black box is safe from summer, monsoon, winter, and bomb blasts, but not from politics.”
He also alleged that the aircraft carried additional illegal fuel tanks to reduce refuelling costs, which he claimed acted like a “bomb” on impact and triggered a larger explosion than normal.
The MLA referred to the pilot, Capt. Sumit Kapoor, alleging past alcohol-related suspensions, questioned why the original crew had been changed at the last moment and whether the pilot was medically fit to fly that day.
Accusing the company of enjoying a “monopoly” and proximity to powerful political figures, Rohit Pawar said this had slowed the investigation. He also claimed the firm’s authorisation had once been revoked by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, yet it continued to operate in India.
He demanded that the inquiry involve international agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, along with Indian agencies, and called for a monitoring panel including members of the Pawar family, legal experts and opposition leaders to ensure transparency.
–IANS
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