A CID team questioned Ajit Pawar’s personal secretary, Avinash Solvat, for more than four hours at the Mantralaya (state secretariat building) about the January 28 air crash, which killed the late Deputy CM and four others at Baramati airport, sources said on Thursday.
The CID team reached Ajit Pawar’s office on the seventh floor of the Mantralaya on Wednesday and questioned Solvat till late evening, and the process is yet to be completed, sources said.
Solvat is considered one of the most trusted aides of the late Ajit Pawar, since he has been associated with Ajit Pawar for more than 15 years.
According to sources, Solvat was questioned about the late Ajit Pawar’s final travel plans, scheduled on January 28, as well as conversations held a day before the tragic air crash.
Sources said that the CID team also sought details regarding who planned the journey, what the aircraft’s technical condition was, and whether the late Ajit Pawar had noticed or mentioned anything unusual in the days leading up to the tragic air crash.
Leaders of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and even sections of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP had demanded a high-level and transparent investigation into the tragic air crash.
As reported earlier, Ajit Pawar-led NCP MLA Amol Mitkari has been at the forefront of these demands and had called for the immediate release of CCTV footage of the late Ajit Pawar’s final journey, even before the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) black box analysis report was released.
Mitkari had urged the DGCA to officially release all CCTV footage from Mumbai airport, from the main entry gate to the moment the late Ajit Pawar boarded the ill-fated aircraft, dated January 28, 2026, even before the black box analysis report was made public. Mitkari had stated that such transparency is essential to dispel doubts and restore public confidence.
Mitkari had raised several unanswered questions regarding the crash, including discrepancies in the number of casualties, inconsistencies in the passenger list, the absence of burnt documents at the site and frequent changes of pilots before the flight. He also questioned why only five bodies were recovered if six people were reportedly on board.
Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and chief Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut too had described the tragic air crash as “suspicious” and said that the people of Maharashtra have a right to know how and why Ajit Pawar died. “This was not an ordinary accident. The circumstances surrounding his death raise serious questions,” Raut had told media persons earlier.