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Ajit Pawar plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges ‘VIP treatment’ to aircraft operator by CID
The legislator visited the CID headquarters at Pashan on Friday, met senior officials and claimed to have submitted additional documentary proof.
Pune: Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar on Friday alleged that the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) extended “royal hospitality” to businessman VK Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, the company that operated the Learjet 45 aircraft involved in the January 28 crash that killed former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
The legislator visited the CID headquarters at Pashan on Friday, met senior officials and claimed to have submitted additional documentary proof with the investigating agency.
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“Last time we visited the CID office, they told us that an FIR would be filed after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report is released. The report came five days ago. We went again today with additional proof related to the case, but the FIR has not been lodged,” Pawar said.
“VK Singh, who came for questioning to CID headquarters on Thursday, was given VIP treatment by the police themselves; permission was granted for his security guard to carry an AK-47 inside the office. We met the officers again today and they have again just assured us to file a case. This raises our question: Does it mean that VK Singh is being deliberately backed because he might name someone, and efforts are being made to protect him? But no matter how much they delay or try to protect anyone, we will continue to pursue the matter relentlessly ,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Singh appeared before the CID for questioning on Thursday and was reportedly interrogated from 12.30 pm to 7.30 pm in connection with the crash.
Pawar alleged that the investigation was influenced by powerful interests linked to the aviation company that operated the aircraft.
He questioned the delay in transferring the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), despite a proposal reportedly being sent by the state government.
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“In the actor Sushant Singh Rajput case, the Bihar government recommended a CBI probe and within two days the agency took over the investigation. In Ajit Pawar’s case, 22 days have passed and the CBI has still not accepted the proposal,” he said.
According to Pawar, his party workers had recorded footage of Singh entering the CID office, but were unable to trace how he left the premises.
“We were told that Singh was taken away in a police vehicle with black-tinted windows,” Pawar alleged.
