Shreya Ghoshal, Arijit Singh cancel concerts in wake of Pahalgam terror attack
New Delhi: Singers Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh have called off their scheduled concerts as a mark of respect to the victims and their families of the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Slated to perform in Surat on April 26 as part of her All Hearts Tour, Shreya Ghoshal announced the cancellation through a joint statement with the organisers on Instagram. The show was to be held at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium. “In light of the recent and tragic events, the organisers, along with the artist, have collectively made the decision to cancel the upcoming show scheduled to happen in Surat this Saturday, April 26th,” the statement read. It further informed them that ticket holders would receive full refunds, automatically credited back to their original mode of payment.
Expressing solidarity with the victims, the caption added, “We stand in silence and solidarity—with heartfelt condolences to those affected by the tragedy.”
Shreya had shared a personal message earlier on social media in response to the attack. “I can't stop thinking about Pahalgam. About the silence that must've followed the chaos. About the families whose worlds will never be the same again. This is a wound to the soul of our nation. My heart goes out to every family shattered by this senseless violence. We grieve with you. And we will remember,” she wrote.
Similar in tone to Ghoshal’s, Singer Arijit Singh also cancelled his Chennai concert, which was scheduled for April 27. The organisers confirmed the cancellation and assured full refunds to all ticket holders in a statement shared on his Instagram.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
