Ajit Pawar air crash: Rohit Pawar, his cousin approach Baramati police against VSR Ventures
Pune: NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and his cousin Yugendra Pawar on Thursday approached Baramati police, seeking registration of an FIR against VSR Ventures over the January 28 plane crash that claimed the life of their uncle and then Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The move comes a day after Rohit Pawar filed a similar complaint at the Marine Drive police station in Mumbai against VSR Ventures and its directors. VSR Ventures operated the ill-fated Learjet-45 plane which crashed in Baramati in Pune district with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and four others on board. Backed by a large number of supporters holding placards with the message demanding 'justice' for the late NCP leader, Rohit Pawar and Yugendra Pawar submitted a written complaint at the Baramati Taluka police station on Thursday morning. "We believe an FIR should be registered against VSR Ventures. We are here to support Rohit Dada in this fight. Our demand is that Ajit dada should get justice and the investigation into the crash should be expedited," Yugendra Pawar told reporters.
On Tuesday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered the grounding of four aircraft of VSR Ventures over non-compliance of approved procedures in the areas of airworthiness, air safety and flight operations. Yugendra Pawar claimed the DGCA had, in its report, pointed to criminal negligence on the part of VSR Ventures. "If criminal negligence is established, then an FIR should be registered against the firm," he said. After the plane crash, an accidental death report was initially registered at the Baramati Taluka police station and the case was later transferred to the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) for further investigation. Yugendra Pawar, the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar and son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother, unsuccessfully contested the 2024 state assembly election against his uncle from the Baramati constituency on the NCP (SP) ticket. Rohit Pawar, who has been questioning the circumstances surrounding the plane crash, filed a complaint in Mumbai against VSR Ventures on Wednesday. As the matter was linked to the accidental death report registered at Baramati following the crash, the complaint was being forwarded to the CID, Pune, a police official subsequently said. Rohit Pawar later alleged that the Mumbai police refused to register a First Information Report in the case. "The conduct of the police has further intensified our suspicion regarding the plane crash. If even after demands by elected representatives from both the opposition and ruling parties the police are discarding the demand to register an FIR, it is unfortunate for Maharashtra," the MLA said in a post on X. The government machinery appeared to be protecting someone, he alleged, adding that "all those who love Ajit Pawar" would go to the Baramati Taluka police station on Thursday morning to press for registration of an FIR. Notably, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is yet to issue its preliminary report into the fatal crash.
