Confront Police Over FIR In Ajit Pawar Plane Crash
Mr. Pawar said a senior officer at the Marine Drive police station declined to register the FIR and accepted their application only as a formality.
Mumbai: NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that the Mumbai Police refused to register an FIR in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, claiming the refusal had deepened suspicion surrounding the incident.
Mr. Pawar said a senior officer at the Marine Drive police station declined to register the FIR and accepted their application only as a formality. He announced that he would visit the Baramati police station at 10 a.m. on Thursday to press for registration of an FIR. The Mumbai Police, however, said the complaint pertains to an aircraft incident and has therefore been forwarded to the State CID, which is already investigating the case, for further necessary action.
A heated exchange broke out at the Marine Drive police station when NCP (SP) MLAs Rohit Pawar and Sandeep Kshirsagar, along with NCP MLC Amol Mitkari, attempted to lodge a complaint against the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Police refused to register the complaint, leading to a confrontation and a verbal altercation between Mr. Pawar and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-1) Pravin Munde. Despite the exchange, the FIR was not filed.
Speaking to reporters outside the police station, Mr. Pawar, a grandnephew of Sharad Pawar and nephew of the late Ajit Pawar, said the DGCA had taken action against VSR Ventures, the charter company that operated the aircraft, but only five of its 25 aircraft had been penalised. “It is the DGCA’s responsibility to verify whether an aircraft is airworthy,” he said.
He pointed out that the DGCA on Tuesday grounded some aircraft operated by the same charter company. Citing the regulator’s report, Mr. Pawar said they had approached the police to register an FIR. “Filing an FIR is the right of every citizen, and under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, this qualifies as a cognisable offence,” he said.
Mr. Pawar further alleged that while a junior officer had initially agreed to register the FIR and had begun recording his statement, the process was halted after intervention by the DCP (Zone-1). Questioning the refusal, he said FIRs were routinely registered even in minor cases and asked whether any external pressure had influenced the decision.
Responding to the allegations, Mr. Munde told this newspaper, “We will examine the matter legally and take necessary action.”