A day after the Nationalist Congress Get together (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 gasoline 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 as a result of unlawful gasoline tanks. The gasoline tank was full, and two extra tanks have been saved within the airplane, appearing as a bomb. Why do you need to have so many gasoline tanks to fly to Baramati? The refilling might have been performed in Hyderabad as properly,” Mr. Pawar mentioned, including that small issues are forcing us to query whether or not that is an accident or a conspiracy.
Mentioning the delay within the investigation, Mr. Pawar mentioned, “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 Common 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 have been checking why there isn’t any motion on the VSR firm.”
Mr. Pawar additional raised considerations 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 will have been detained for questioning.
“Highly effective persons are purposely defending VSR as a number of Ministers of the Telugu Desam Get together (TDP) and different events are near them,” he mentioned, including that because of this worldwide businesses needs to be appointed with a monitoring committee having Chief of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Pawar members of the family, MPs, and a Choose 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 offered a PowerPoint briefing on the accident, outlining alleged inconsistencies within the sequence of occasions, considerations 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 mistaken 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 good image of no discrepancies on the firm degree.
“DCGA was unaware of the flight plans of Ajit Pawar; the flight plans have been modified. Now, VSR is attempting to align all of the paperwork. One ought to ask for digital proof, the place the papers have been signed beneath the CCTV,” he mentioned.
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 considerations 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 full hours the flight accomplished have been 4,915 hours, and solely 85 hours have 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 may be broken at 1100 levels Celsius for one hour, which is once more put in beneath the Aluminium protecting, which has a melting level of 645 levels Celsius, so how is it potential that a part of it’s burned? Based on norms, two hours of recording is required; solely half-hour have been performed. 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
