"VSR's role, criminal angle must be examined in Ajit Pawar plane crash": Rohit Pawar demands thorough probe into his uncle's death

Speaking to ANI, Rohit Pawar said VSR was not functioning well, posing risks to VIP passengers. He called the January 28 crash that killed his uncle deeply unfortunate and demanded a thorough investigation, including a probe into events on January 27.

"We have come to know that VSR was not functioning well... VIPs travel with this airline; their lives could be at risk. What happened on 28 January was deeply unfortunate, as we lost our leader, Ajit Pawar. The family members and the people of Maharashtra demand a thorough investigation into this matter. VSR's role must be carefully examined, and the criminal angle should also be investigated, including events that transpired a day earlier, on 27 January," Pawar told ANI.

Ajit Pawar and four others died on the morning of January 28 after the aircraft carrying him crashed while attempting to land at the Baramati airport in Pune district.

As per the sources, aircraft accident investigations are carried out strictly in accordance with established international AAIB protocols and ICAO norms. These inquiries are technical, transparent, and entirely evidence-driven.

They added that the matter should be left to the investigating agencies and described attempts to politicise the tragedy as unfortunate.

"Rather than making wild allegations, we should let the investigating bodies do their job and come up with evidence-based answers. Unfortunately, the tragic loss of a respected political leader is being politicised for narrow political gains. The TDP has always held Ajit Pawar in the highest regard and remains fully committed to ensuring that the truth emerges and that those responsible, if any, are held accountable," the sources said.

After Pawar's death, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), along with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, have raised questions over the incident, suggesting "foul play".

Earlier on Saturday, Rohit Pawar called for the personal involvement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the plane crash that led to the demise of Ajit Pawar.

While addressing a press conference, he said that it is important to figure out whether the accident was a political controversy or a commercial controversy.

He said, "If we talk about conspiracies, there can be two types of conspiracies: political and commercial. We want to find out which one it is. Another thing is that if someone is supporting or protecting the VSR company, which is responsible for it, that could also be a conspiracy. So many powerful people are behind this company. DGCA officials are behind it."

Further, he urged the support of senior national leaders in the investigation, noting that he will write about the same to PM Modi, and demanded the resignation of the Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu.

The NCP-SCP leader also voiced suspicions about the black box, saying that more than one blast occurred that day. He underlined that the additional petrol cans were kept in a separate area, which caused the fire, and demanded an investigation into the same. (ANI)