CID questions VSR Ventures owner over Baramati plane crash

Pune: The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday questioned V K Singh, the owner of VSR Ventures, in connection with the company's aircraft that crashed near Baramati airstrip on Jan 28, resulting in the death of then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others. Additional director general of police (CID) Sunil Ramanand told TOI, "Singh cooperated with the investigation of the accidental death report (ADR) case."
A team of CID officials questioned Singh for over six hours at the CID headquarters in Pashan in the city. Officials said he might be called again for questioning. VSR Ventures operates a fleet of aircraft. One of its aircraft was hired for Ajit Pawar's trip from Mumbai to Baramati on Jan 28. The state government had handed over the investigation of the ADR to the CID on Jan 29. Singh arrived at the CID office around noon. Some officials took him to a room on the first floor of CID headquarters and questioned him for more than six hours.Last month, the CID had written to the company seeking clarification on several aspects of the flight that carried Ajit Pawar and four others from Mumbai to Pune. The CID sought details on how the aircraft was booked, who booked the particular flight from Mumbai to Baramati, how the pilots and crew members were assigned, and the aircraft's maintenance procedures and history, among other information.A senior CID officer told TOI, "The company had not answered these questions. Therefore, we called the company official to the CID office for questioning."He said, "The CID is currently focusing on the flying history of the two pilots and other details related to them."