Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena leaders likely to stop using VSR Ventures aircraft after Ajit Pawar plane crash: Report

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde. (Credit: X@Rohit Pawar)

• Shiv Sena leaders to avoid VSR Ventures flights after crash
• DGCA audit found safety non-compliance by VSR Ventures
• Rohit Pawar seeks FIR against VSR and officials after crash

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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and members of the Shiv Sena are unlikely to use the aircraft of VSR Ventures, whose plane crashed near Baramati last month, killing Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others.

As per reports, the Shiv Sena leadership has taken a precautionary approach and has conveyed its decision internally to avoid flying on VSR-operated aircraft.

Hailing the decision, NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar said in a post on X,  "The decision by the honorable Eknath Shinde Saheb and his colleagues not to use #VSR company's aircraft is commendable. Shinde Saheb's decision will provide further strength to the ongoing struggle to permanently shut down the services of the company responsible for Ajit Dada's death."

Following the crash of the Learjet 45 aircraft (VT-SSK) on January 28, the DGCA ordered a special safety audit of VSR Ventures. According to the regulator, the audit team observed several non-compliances on the part of the organisation in terms of airworthiness and air safety.

Following the DGCA report, Rohit Pawar, who has been raising the pitch for resignation of the Union Aviation Minister for his alleged links with the owner of VSR Aviation, went to Mumbai to register a case against VSR Aviation.

Addressing a gathering in Baramati on Thursday, Rohit Pawar said,  “I went to the Marine Drive Police Station in Mumbai to demand an FIR based on the DGCA report, which indicates negligence by the VSR company in the 28 January incident involving Ajit Dada...the FIR was not accepted there.”

"Under Section 173(1), every citizen has the right to file an FIR...Anyone from Baramati or anywhere in Maharashtra can file an FIR in Ajit Dada’s case, and the police are bound to accept it," said Rohit Pawar, who has been running pillar-to-post seeking answers from authorities about the plane crash that killed his uncle Ajit Pawar.

After the Mumbai police station refused to register an FIR, Rohit Pawar arrived in Baramati on Thursday to get a case registered for the plane crash. “The DGCA has acknowledged non-compliance by the VSR company in the Learjet 45XR case. We came to file an FIR against VSR and its owners, and also sought action against DGCA officials who certified the aircraft’s airworthiness. We also demanded an FIR against the Aero company, which was responsible for flight planning and had stated the weather was clear."

Stating that although they are seeking a registration of a case, Rohit Pawar said they have not named anyone in the FIR. "Although we have demanded the Aviation Minister’s resignation due to his party’s commercial links with VSR, we have not named him in the FIR because we do not want to politicise the issue," said the NC-SP MLA.

On January 28, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board Learjet 45XR, operated by VSR Aviation, were killed after it crashed near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra's Pune district.