New Delhi, March 27 NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule on Friday demanded a time-bound investigation into the plane crash that killed former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and criticised the state government for not filing an FIR in the matter.
Pawar and four other persons on board a chartered aircraft were killed after it crashed barely 200 metres from the edge of a tabletop runway at Baramati airport in Maharashtra on January 28.
Mentioning the crash during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Sule said that if a former deputy chief minister does not get justice, then what about others?
On Tuesday, Rohit Pawar, Ajit Pawar's nephew, said that as the Maharashtra police failed to register an FIR for alleged negligence on his complaint in connection with the crash, he filed a zero FIR in Bengaluru.
Against this backdrop, Sule said that there should be a time-bound probe into the crash and criticised the Maharashtra government for not filing the FIR.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said a 'zero FIR' registered in Bengaluru over the plane crash was a "strategic attempt" to malign the state's image.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), in its preliminary report released on February 28, said visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level.
It had also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravel on the runway surface at the airport, as it recommended the regulator DGCA to ensure that stakeholders maintain safety standards at uncontrolled airfields.
Fadnavis, on Wednesday, also said that the state government has requested the Centre to involve the CBI in the probe. While the state CID is currently investigating the Accidental Death Report, the final report of the AAIB will determine whether the case should be converted into a criminal FIR, he had said.