Rohit Pawar and Ajit Pawar

NEW DELHI: NCP (SP) general secretary Rohit Pawar on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the resignation of civil aviation minister K Ram Mohan Naidu until the inquiry into the January 28 plane crash that killed former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is completed. He also demanded an independent and transparent probe into the incident.In his letter to the PM Modi, a copy of which was marked to Union home minister Amit Shah, Rohit Pawar raised concerns about the air charter company VSR, which owned the ill-fated Learjet 45 aircraft and alleged possible links that need independent scrutiny, according to news agency PTI. “Serious questions have been raised about the company VSR and its links with Rammohan Naidu’s party (TDP). These links must be investigated by an independent and competent authority, preferably in collaboration with international agencies,” Pawar said in the letter.Seeking the minister’s resignation, he wrote, “You have always shown respect for Ajit Dada and his contribution to the country. In this context, I request that Rammohan Naidu be asked to resign from his post until the investigation is completed. This is necessary to ensure there is no influence or interference in examining whether the DGCA was compromised in any manner in relation to VSR.”Addressing a press conference, Rohit Pawar alleged that the circumstances surrounding the crash warrant deeper examination and suggested that the possibility of conspiracy must be explored.“If we talk about conspiracies, there can be two types of conspiracies: political and commercial. We want to find out which one it is. Another thing is that if someone is supporting or protecting the VSR company, which is responsible for it, that could also be a conspiracy. So many powerful people are behind this company. DGCA officials are behind it,” he said.Calling for direct intervention by senior national leaders, he added, “But if this investigation needs to be brought to justice, only the most powerful people in India, like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, can bring justice to Ajit Dada, because the rest of the people involved are also powerful. I request them to personally address this investigation. I’m going to send a letter addressed to PM Modi via email today... The Aviation Minister must resign. This is our demand.”Rohit Pawar also raised doubts about technical aspects of the crash, including the aircraft’s black box and possible causes of the fire.“We had expressed doubts about the black box. When the accident happened, there was not just one blast, there were many blasts… VSR, the company that operates the flight, has a lot of issues. They are mechanical, maintenance issues. There is an area where bags are kept, additional petrol cans were kept there, and that’s what caused the fire, so this needs to be investigated,” he said.Ajit Pawar and four others were killed on the morning of January 28 when the aircraft carrying them crashed near Baramati airport in Pune district while attempting to land. The Nationalist Congress Party (SP), along with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress leaders, have raised questions over the incident and suggested possible foul play.