At a press conference, Rohit raised questions about VSR, the company whose aircraft Ajit was travelling in when it crashed, citing several lapses such as poor maintenance and “short cuts” like illegally carrying fuel on board. He also questioned Arrow, another firm that hired VSR, and alleged possible motives involving the senior pilot.
He added, “I firmly believe this is not an accident but a conspiracy. The transponder was shut for the last one minute before the crash. Why and who shut it down? Why did the pilot insist on landing on runway 11, which was more difficult, rather than runway 29? The plane tilted before crashing and the senior pilot was silent. Did the pilot doze off, did something else happen, or had the pilot decided that come what may, he would crash the aircraft?”
Rohit also alleged that the aircraft was allowed to depart from Mumbai despite poor visibility, claiming that under DGCA norms it should not have been permitted to fly.
He referred to changes in Ajit’s habits prior to the crash insinuating that Ajit apprehended a threat to his life. For instance, he said Ajit stopped drinking water from plastic bottles and switched to glass bottles, fearing that something could be injected into plastic ones.
Rohit also questioned why a senior pilot, who was originally scheduled to fly, missed the flight. He alleged that the pilot who flew the aircraft had previously been warned for being drunk on duty. “Was he under depression, or did someone take advantage of his mental state to cause this accident?” he asked. The NCP (SP) MLA said he addressed the press because the probe was not progressing.
Questioning possible motives, he asked whether his uncle might have been about to take decisions affecting someone financially or possessed sensitive information. “Their own party members have doubts about the accident… I need to know what happened to my uncle. We want aviation safety agencies from the US, UK or Canada to be part of the probe along with the DGCA. Two such agencies should also handle the investigation,” he said.
Responding to Sharad Pawar’s statement shortly after the crash that there was no foul play, Rohit said, “He made that statement within six hours. If he had said otherwise based on incomplete or incorrect information, lakhs of people had gathered for the funeral and anything could have happened.”
