After NCP SP MLA Rohit Pawar raised the sabotage angle, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar on Tuesday demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the air crash on January 28 near Baramati in which her husband Ajit Pawar was killed.
Sunetra Pawar, along with her son Parth Pawar, NCP national working president Praful Patel and state president Sunil Tatkar, met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in this regard.
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, including that of then DCM Ajit Pawar. The letter making the demand is signed by NCP working president Praful Patel and state president Sunil Tatkare.
A Learjet-45XR aircraft operating a flight from Mumbai to Baramati met with a catastrophic crash during its landing approach near Baramati airfield that resulted in the death of Ajit Pawar and four other occupants, including the pilot, co-pilot, crew member, and personal security guard.
The letter says that a CBI probe should be carried out as there were serious irregularities and suspicious circumstances surrounding the crash. These include the last-minute changes in flight crew composition requiring scrutiny of operational decision-making and authorization, 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,” reads the letter.
The NCP also stated that this probe requires multi-disciplinary expertise because the crash involves highly technical aviation, forensic, electronic and operational considerations. “The investigative powers, technical expertise, and inter-state jurisdictional capacity of the CBI render it the most appropriate agency to conduct a comprehensive inquiry," said the letter. It added that the state government should consider exercising the powers vested in it "to recommend and consent to investigation by the CBI under the provisions of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, so that the investigation into the aircraft crash dated 28th January 2026 may be entrusted to the CBI."