Pilot with 16,500 flight hours, co-pilot Shambhavi Pathak, details of all on-board Pawar’s flight
New Delhi/Baramati: A chartered Learjet 45 carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar crashed while attempting to land at Baramati Airport on Wednesday morning, killing all five people on board, officials confirmed. The aircraft was en route from Mumbai to Baramati when it lost control and burst into flames, leaving no survivors.
Ajit Pawar (66) – The deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and a senior political leader, Pawar was travelling to Baramati to address political engagements tied to local elections when the crash occurred. A long-time figure in the state’s political landscape, he was a key leader of the Nationalist Congress Party and part of the ruling coalition.
Vidip Jadhav – Serving as Pawar’s Personal Security Officer (PSO), Jadhav was also killed in the crash. He lived in Vitawa, Thane, and is survived by his elderly parents, a nine-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter. Neighbours described him as friendly and well-known in the community.
Pinky Mali – The flight attendant on the chartered aircraft and a frequent travel companion of Pawar on official trips, Mali died in the accident. Her father recalled speaking to her the day before the flight, when she mentioned her travel plans.
Captain Sumit Kapur – The pilot in command of the Learjet, Kapur was an experienced aviator with over 16,500 flight hours. His professional record marked him as a seasoned pilot trusted with carrying high-profile passengers.
Shambhavi Pathak – The co-pilot on the flight, Pathak had studied aeronautics at the University of Mumbai and trained at the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy. Her professional background reflected formal training in aviation and co-piloting duties.
The Learjet 45, registration VT-SSK, was operated by VSR Aviation and was a midsize business jet commonly used for charter and official travel.
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MP: 7-year-old girl raped and murdered; minor relative detained
Barwani (MP), Jan 28 (PTI) Police on Wednesday detained a 17-year-old relative of a seven-year-old girl in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh for allegedly raping her and killing her by throwing her into a canal, a police official said.
Superintendent of Police Jagdish Dawar told reporters that the body of the child was recovered from the Indira Sagar Canal on January 26, following information from residents of a village in the Rajpur police station area of the district.
He said the post-mortem report concluded severe injuries to the girl’s private parts and attributed her death to drowning.
Dawar said a 17-year-old boy, a close relative of the girl, has been detained in connection with the rape-murder.
The teenager told the police that he kidnapped the girl from her home on the night of January 25 while her family members were asleep, took her to a nearby canal and raped her, according to the official.
When the girl started screaming during the sexual assault, the minor boy allegedly threw her into the canal, with the intention of killing her. The child drowned in the water body, the official said.
The detained minor will be produced in a juvenile court.
A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and an investigation is underway, he added.
