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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Bhujbal’s chopper lands in Pune parking lot

Mumbai : In what is suspected to be a breach of aviation protocols, a chartered helicopter ferrying Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal from Mumbai to Pune skipped a designated helipad and landed in a vehicle parking lot almost a km away.   The shocker happened in Purandar taluka, where Bhujbal was slated to attend a function marking the 200 th  birth anniversary of the social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule in his home village Khanwadi.   As crowds of bewildered people watched...

Bhujbal’s chopper lands in Pune parking lot

Mumbai : In what is suspected to be a breach of aviation protocols, a chartered helicopter ferrying Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal from Mumbai to Pune skipped a designated helipad and landed in a vehicle parking lot almost a km away.   The shocker happened in Purandar taluka, where Bhujbal was slated to attend a function marking the 200 th  birth anniversary of the social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule in his home village Khanwadi.   As crowds of bewildered people watched from around the sprawling parking lot, the helicopter appeared to drop speed in its flight, flew over some overhead high-tension electric cables, and descended gingerly into the parking lot - raising a thick dust-storm in which it disappeared for seconds - before touching the ground.   Moments later, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) senior leader Bhujbal and others stepped out of the chopper, looked around in the unfamiliar territory before several vehicles and police teams rushed there. Minutes before there was chaos and confusion with some locals shouting warnings at the ‘wrong landing’.   Eyewitnesses said that the chopper’s powerful rotors created a thick dust storm and sparked alarm among the people in the vicinity, and many scrambled to the spot to check what exactly was going on in the parking lot.   Later, the Pune Police said that a designated helipad was available for the chopper landing but were at a loss to explain how the pilot missed it and veered off quite a distance away in the vehicle parking space. Subsequently, they asked the pilot to fly it to the correct landing spot.   Shaken and angry local NCP leaders questioned how a pilot flying a VIP on an official trip could mistake a parking lot for a helipad when the weather and visibility was clear. They demanded to know whether the helipad was improperly marked or it was a question of communication or sheer negligence.   The Pune Police indicated that they would report the matter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which may take action against the errant pilot and the helicopter company.   “There was no accident. We all emerged safely. The helicopter pilot landed wrongly in a parking lot because the helipad was not visible. All of us are fine and there is nothing to worry,” said Bhujbal, before he was whisked off by his security team.   “There are many faults in numerous airplanes and helicopters, including maintenance issues and other problems. That's why I keep saying consistently that VIPs must exercise caution while flying. Fortunately, an accident was averted today, but that doesn't mean the authorities should be negligent. We expect the government to take urgent precautions.” Rohit R. Pawar, MLA, NCP (SP)

Father seeks FIR against Aaditya

Mumbai: Satish Salian, father of former celebrity manager Disha Salian, on Tuesday, submitted a complaint to the Joint Commissioner of Police demanding the registration of a case against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and others in connection with his daughter's death in 2020.


Salian visited the office of the joint commissioner of police (crime) in south Mumbai accompanied by his lawyer, days after he moved the Bombay High Court seeking a fresh probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of his daughter and former manager of actor Sushant Rajput in June 2020.


The HC petition stated that "Disha was raped and murdered, and there was a politically-orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons".


The petition demanded the registration of an FIR against Aaditya Thackeray and transferring the probe to the CBI.


The petition will likely come up for hearing in the first week of April.

Aaditya Thackeray had said he would respond to the allegations in court.

"I am expecting justice for my daughter," Satish Salian told reporters after submitting a written complaint to the JCP.


"I won't speak now. I am feeling dizzy," he said.


His lawyer, Nilesh Ojha, said a written complaint was submitted to the Mumbai Police demanding the registration of a case against Aaditya Thackeray and others.


Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in suburban Malad, six days before Bollywood star Rajput allegedly committed suicide in his apartment in Bandra.

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