Mumbai: Last month’s plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar had raised several questions. Ajit’s nephew Rohit Pawar, an NCP (Sharad Pawar) MLA, was among those who raised the sabotage angle.
Now, Sunetra Pawar herself has demanded a CBI investigation into the crash that killed her husband.
Sunetra, who was named deputy CM after Ajit’s death, met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and handed over a letter signed by NCP working president Praful Patel and state president Sunil Tatkare.
The NCP said the demand for a CBI probe was made in the larger public interest, in the interest of justice, and for ensuring a fair, impartial
and independent investigation into an incident of exceptional gravity involving loss of multiple lives.
On January 28, a private Learjet-45XR aircraft, operating a flight from Mumbai to Baramati, crashed during its landing approach near Baramati airfield. Ajit Pawar and four other occupants — the pilot, co-pilot, crew member and personal security guard – all died.
The NCP letter mentions that a CBI probe was necessary because of serious irregularities and suspicious circumstances surrounding the crash. These include last-minute changes in flight crew composition requiring scrutiny of operational decision-making and authorisation, besides anomalies in Air Traffic Control communications and sequencing of runway clearances.
“There is a question mark over the functioning of critical onboard safety warning systems and the absence of any recorded distress communication despite proximity to the landing phase. The forensic evaluations, including crew fitness and maintaining compliance, should be probed. There is a need for an independent and credible investigation by the central prime probe agency,” the NCP letter stated.