Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar released another video of the late Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s air crash at Baramati airstrip on January 28, and told media persons that his bereaved sons Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar have their own doubts about the tragic incident.
Rohit Pawar pointed out the suspicious circumstances behind Ajit Pawar’s plane crash and told media persons, “I met Parth. He also has many questions in his mind. That is why (Ajit Pawar-led) NCP leaders like Amol Mitkari, Rupali Thombre Patil and others met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. They must have met after Parth and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar’s advice. Parth and Jay Pawar have many doubts about the accident. If there were no doubts, people from their (Ajit Pawar-led NCP) party would not have met the Chief Minister. Why did the accident happen? How did it happen?
“Sharad Pawar-led NCP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule on Wednesday sought an appointment with Amit Shah. She requested this appointment on my behalf. We have no allegations against any party or government, but the incident should be investigated. We will meet Amit Shah and convey Sule’s demand. We believe there is a conspiracy behind the air crash, and an investigation should be carried out in this regard,” Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Rohit Pawar said.
“The day before the accident, Ajit Pawar had planned to travel by car on January 27. He had said he would meet some party leaders and workers in the evening. After this meeting, Dada was scheduled to leave for Pune by car. His convoy was also ready, but a big leader from East Vidarbha came to meet Ajit Dada. However, he was late and the discussion continued till late evening, due to which Ajit Dada could not go to Pune by car and decided to go by aircraft the next morning. It is necessary to examine whether there was any planning behind this,” Rohit Pawar said.
“This leader from East Vidarbha had come to obtain Ajit Dada’s signature on a file, but the file was not at his residence. It was in the ministry’s office. The leader from East Vidarbha said that it was very important to sign that file. Dada got delayed because a senior party leader was telling him to do so. Finally, it took time to bring the file from the ministry in the evening. This evening, discussions were going on about cancelling the services of a political consultant. This political consultant had a budget of crores of rupees. Discussions were going on with party leaders about cancelling the political consultant’s services. Earlier, too, Ajit Dada had scolded that political consultant. Dada told him not to teach us politics,” Rohit Pawar said.
Incidentally, sources hinted that the political consultant whose services were to be terminated was Naresh Arora, a political strategist and founder of an agency called Design Boxed, who was also one of the last people to speak to Ajit Pawar, though the identity of “the leader from East Vidarbha” is still not clear.
“After watching this video of Ajit Pawar’s aircraft, it doesn’t seem like an accident. Why did the plane tilt to one side before landing? Was it due to a technical fault or deliberate? Who was the pilot of this plane and why did the transponder go off at the last minute? How did such a huge explosion occur as soon as the plane hit the ground? Were there any explosives on the aircraft? It is a big mistake for such an accident to happen in a safe place like Baramati airport. Is the plane crash simply a coincidence, or was it the result of a conspiracy?” Rohit Pawar said.
“The role of pilot Kapoor should be investigated. Why was he drinking alcohol? Did he have a mental issue? Was there any financial reason? Was he under any financial pressure? Did he cause an accident because of that? This should be investigated. The company’s WhatsApp group chats should be investigated. Even if the chats are deleted, that information can still be retrieved. The chats of a company called Arrow should also be investigated. Why did the handler say give an okay report regarding the visibility? Why the take-off and landing take place without proper visibility should also be investigated,” Rohit Pawar said.
“Delhi-based aircraft charter company VSR’s business should be shut down. The owner of the company, Vijay Singh, is a person who can tamper with documents to destroy evidence. He could interfere in the investigation. He has suppressed cases before as well. That is why the results of the investigation into this accident should be released within a month,” Rohit Pawar said.
“The plane in which Dada was travelling was a Learjet. The name of the company that owned this plane is VSR. There are two directors, Vijay Kumar and Rohit Singh. There are 27 stakeholders in this company. The aircraft that flew Ajit Pawar was 16 years old. Two days before that, this plane had flown to Surat. The aircraft was in good condition, and the pilots were experienced, but the owner of the airline claimed that the accident was likely caused by fog. However, the picture at the scene of the accident is different. It was revealed that the plane tilted while descending, and later it is clear that it exploded as the CCTV footage shows,” Rohit Pawar said.
“Before this air crash, the same aircraft of the same company was involved in an accident two years ago, but no investigation was carried out. The report was not released two years ago. Was that report suppressed? If that had not happened, Ajit Dada’s accident would not have happened. VSR’s aircraft has been banned in Europe, but no action was taken against it in India. There should be a 12-hour gap between the pilots’ flights, but even after a six-hour flight, the pilots were under pressure to fly the aircraft. The cockpit voice recorder was turned off. The company does not have a checklist system. This company does not have its own standard system. Why didn’t the pilot take a second go-around? Why didn’t Dada’s plane take a second go-around? Did the company order the pilot to save fuel? Was saving fuel more important than someone’s life?” Rohit Pawar said.
“The aircraft was flying at a very low altitude. Was there an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) alert or not? Why didn’t it sound? Was the company unable to carry out heavy base maintenance, and who reported this? Action should be taken against the cleaner engineer, quality engineer, and maintenance engineer in this case. It is known that VSR often carries extra fuel to save costs; if fuel is kept onboard, it could even pose a bomb-like risk. We demand that a case of manslaughter be registered against the owner of this company. Despite this accident, the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, and other ministers travel on the same company’s aircraft. Therefore, it is even more serious,” Rohit Pawar said.
“We do not want to go to court. Let the central as well as the state government agencies conduct a thorough investigation, but the help of agencies outside the country could also be taken. There is no problem if the CID investigates Ajit Dada’s accident, but the CID has its limitations. Therefore, a central mechanism like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is needed for this investigation. Along with this, two other agencies from Canada, UK, US or France could also help the investigation by the CBI, CID and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which will lead to better results,” Rohit Pawar said.
“A team of Ajit Dada’s party leaders and family members should be formed to conduct the investigation. People like us should also be included in it. Ajit Dada will not return, but the questions in our minds should be answered. We will not be able to live with the questions in our minds. This is our effort to ensure that such an accident does not happen to anyone in the future and to bring out the truth behind Ajit Dada’s accident.
“After Ajit Pawar’s accident, we spoke to his doctor. Dada’s body was swollen abnormally. We asked the doctor if a body swells after getting burnt. The doctor said yes, but he also told us that Dada’s body was abnormally swollen,” Rohit Pawar said.