Baramati, Jan 29 (NationPress) The funeral ceremonies for Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar will take place on Thursday in his political fortress, Baramati, with full state honors, following his tragic demise in a plane crash.

Ajit Pawar's remains are currently at the Vidya Pratishtan ground, allowing the public to pay their last respects. A significant number of supporters, party members, and local residents are anticipated to attend throughout the day.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and various senior political figures are expected to be present at the funeral.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are also anticipated to attend the last rites for the Deputy Chief Minister.

In light of this tragic event, the Maharashtra government has declared a three-day state mourning period. During this time, all government buildings across the state will display the national flag at half-mast.

Meanwhile, authorities have filed an accidental death report (ADR) regarding the plane crash. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has initiated an investigation.

Deputy CM Pawar and four others perished when a Learjet 45 aircraft crashed near Baramati Airport on Wednesday morning.

The aircraft, registered as VT-SSK, was operated by VSR Ventures.

Onboard the Learjet 45, alongside Deputy CM Pawar, were a personal security officer (PSO), a flight attendant, and two crew members: the Pilot-in-Command (PIC) and the Second-in-Command (SIC).

The deceased have been identified as Vidip Jadhav (male) and Pinky Mali (female). The crew members were identified as PIC Sumit Kapur and SIC Shambhavi Pathak, according to the passenger list.

According to a detailed report from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the aircraft involved was a Learjet 45 registered as VT-SSK, managed by operator VSR Ventures.

The flight was cleared to land on Runway 11 at precisely 8:43 a.m. after the flight crew had previously aborted an initial landing attempt.

However, a chilling silence ensued as Air Traffic Control did not receive any verbal response from the cockpit crew after the landing clearance was issued.

The situation turned catastrophic just one minute later at 8:44 a.m. when ground controllers observed a sudden burst of flames near the threshold of the tabletop runway.

This incident has brought scrutiny upon the operator, VSR Ventures, which operates a fleet of 17 aircraft.

The Ministry highlighted a concerning precedent, noting that on September 14, 2023, another Learjet 45 owned by the same operator, registered as VT-DBL, was involved in a separate accident during a landing attempt at Mumbai Airport.

That earlier incident remains under investigation by the authorities.