A day after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the airplane crash that killed its chief, Ajit Pawar’s nephew and NCP (Sharad Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) alleged that the airplane was loaded with further gas tanks, questioning why no motion has been taken towards VSR Aviation firm.
The Karjat MLA additionally demanded the organising of a committee, consisting of Chief of Opposition (LoP) within the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Pawar members of the family, to watch the continued investigation.
“The high-intensity explosion occurred in the course of the crash resulting from unlawful gas tanks. The gas tank was full, and two extra tanks had been saved within the airplane, performing as a bomb. Why do you wish to have so many gas tanks to fly to Baramati? The refilling may have been carried out in Hyderabad as effectively,” Mr. Pawar stated, including that small issues are forcing us to query whether or not that is an accident or a conspiracy.
Declaring the delay within the investigation, Mr. Pawar stated, “The order for an investigation was issued on February 2, and the forensic folks reached the spot late within the night on January 28. How the Directorate Basic of Civil Aviation (DCGA) investigates when there are discrepancies within the VSR’s operations. 20 days have passed by, and why is there no preliminary report out? They’re defending VSR and the brains behind it. We had been checking why there is no such thing as a motion on the VSR firm.”
Mr. Pawar additional raised issues over the whereabouts of VSR Enterprise’s proprietor, V.Ok. Singh, and his son, Rohit Singh. He alleged that Rohit Singh, who’s in Miami, left India after the accident and may have been detained for questioning.
“Highly effective individuals are purposely defending VSR as a number of Ministers of the Telugu Desam Celebration (TDP) and different events are near them,” he stated, including that this is the reason worldwide companies ought to be appointed with a monitoring committee having Chief of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Pawar members of the family, MPs, and a Decide on the panel.
Following the demise of the previous president of the NCP, Ajit Pawar, in a airplane crash on January 28, questions surrounding the circumstances of the accident have intensified, with Rohit Pawar and different leaders expressing scepticism.
Earlier on February 10, Rohit Pawar introduced a PowerPoint briefing on the accident, outlining alleged inconsistencies within the sequence of occasions, issues over DCGA’s probe, and motion towards the VSR firm. He additionally raised doubts on the DCGA’s investigation, saying, “They made a blunder proper from mentioning the flawed mannequin variety of the Learjet 45 plane.”
Poor upkeep of VSR planes
Mr. Pawar alleged that VSR has poorly maintained their plane, jeopardising the lives of VVIP and different passengers travelling on them. He identified that the corporate is manipulating the paperwork to attach the dots and put up a decent image of no discrepancies on the firm stage.
“DCGA was unaware of the flight plans of Ajit Pawar; the flight plans had been modified. Now, VSR is attempting to align all of the paperwork. One ought to ask for digital proof, the place the papers had been signed underneath the CCTV,” he stated.
Mr. Pawar additionally highlighted the discrepancies within the operation of VSR, citing why the flight took off when visibility was beneath the norms of DCGA, and why the choice of flying again to Mumbai was not taken. He raised issues over the registration of the airplane and certification of air worthiness, the hours accomplished by the airplane, accusing VSR of working planes on worn-out engines. “As per the DCGA, the entire hours the flight accomplished had been 4,915 hours, and solely 85 hours had been left. Nonetheless, we imagine the machine accomplished 8,000 hours. Honeywell firm, who has designed the engine, has been reluctant to provide the information. I request DCGA to additionally examine this.”
“Technically, the black field might be broken at 1100 levels Celsius for one hour, which is once more put in underneath the Aluminium protecting, which has a melting level of 645 levels Celsius, so how is it potential that a part of it’s burned? In accordance with norms, two hours of recording is required; solely half-hour had been carried out. Why the violations? The place are the accountable managers and security officers, who’re appointed after DCGA interviews them? Have DCGA interrogated them?” he additional questioned.
The NCP(SP) chief additionally touched upon the insurance coverage angle, saying, “The insurance coverage worth of the airplane has been 55 crore, and legal responsibility insurance coverage is 210 crore. The buying value was 35 crore, and the sale worth has been 10-15 crores.”
Printed – February 18, 2026 02:57 pm IST
