Maharashtra Government Requests CBI Probe Into The Plane Crash That Killed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar

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The Maharashtra government has requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order a Central Bureau of Investigation into the plane crash that killed Deputy CM Ajit Pawar last month, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said.

The Mahayuti government will ensure that all doubts regarding the plane crash are cleared, Fadnavis said at a press conference on Sunday on the eve of the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature.

“I had received a letter from the NCP (an ally of the BJP) seeking a CBI probe into the air crash and spoke with Home Minister Amit Shah. Along with investigations by DGCA and state CID, there will be a probe by the CBI,” he added.

Ajit Pawar and four others onboard a chartered plane were killed when it crashed while attempting to land near Baramati in Pune district on January 28.

The late NCP chief’s nephew and NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar has raised several allegations regarding the plane crash circumstances and suspected foul play.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis earlier led leaders cutting across party lines in paying tributes to the late deputy CM Ajit Pawar on the first day of the Budget session of the state legislature, saying he was “the best CM the state never had”.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde described the late NCP leader as an “elder brother” and said he, Fadnavis, and Pawar were like an “equilateral triangle,” being close to each other.

On January 28, Deputy CM Pawar and four others died in a plane crash in Pune’s Baramati town.

In a glowing tribute to Pawar in the assembly on the first day of the legislature’s budget session, Fadnavis said the state has lost a towering leader and administrator.

Pawar’s shocking demise has created a political vacuum that will never be filled, the CM said while hailing the NCP leader, whose party is a constituent of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi.

“Ajitdada (as Pawar was fondly called) and I share the same birthdate, but he was 11 years senior to me in age. He was my dada in the real sense,” Fadnavis noted.

He said Ajit Pawar became deputy chief minister a record six times and had the capacity to lead the state.