Mumbai, April 20: Rohit Pawar, a legislator from the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar, has raised concerns regarding the recent arrest made by the CBI in the Ajit Pawar plane crash case. On Monday, he asserted that the arrest of the Deputy Director of the Airworthiness Department at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the filing of an FIR have revealed the presence of numerous corrupt officials. He described the arrested individual as merely a ‘small fish,’ suggesting that there are much larger ‘fish’ within the organization.
In a post on X, Rohit Pawar stated, “The CBI has arrested the Deputy Director of DGCA’s Airworthiness Department and filed an FIR. We have repeatedly pointed out the presence of corrupt officials in the DGCA, and this incident has validated our claims. The person arrested is just a ‘small fish.’ There are many bigger fish in this organization.”
He further commented, “If work at the DGCA is being done through bribery, one can easily speculate how VK Singh, who is adept at bribery and acting as an intermediary, might have ‘cleaned’ the documents related to Dada’s accident. It has been two months since we requested the CBI to take over the investigation into Dada’s accident, yet they have not yet taken charge of the case. Meanwhile, the CBI is taking action on their part, which is significant. This could be a subtle message or warning to the TDP government. Perhaps this is why the TDP has strictly adhered to the central government’s orders on the delimitation issue, disregarding regional sentiments.”
Rohit Pawar has been vocal about systemic corruption within the DGCA and has expressed concerns regarding the safety standards of the private charter aircraft involved in the incident. He has explicitly stated his suspicion that there may be a conspiracy behind the plane crash. His allegations focus on a “disturbing web” of corruption between the charter operator VSR Ventures and DGCA officials.
He reiterated his claim that there was manipulation of the pilot’s flight hours to meet regulatory requirements. Additionally, he alleged that there was intentional tampering with the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) to prevent the disclosure of security lapses, or that they were discreetly silenced through bribery.
Rohit Pawar questioned how the Learjet 45 was permitted to take off despite previous reports of technical failures and allegations of financial irregularities against the management of the operating company. He has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu, demanding a thorough and transparent investigation into the matter.
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