Ajit Pawar's final journey: Immersed in nature's elements with state honors

Baramati (The Uttam Hindu): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar was cremated with full state honours in Baramati on Thursday. Pawar's entire family was present at the funeral. Pawar's two sons lit the funeral pyre.

Apart from this, many people including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President Nitin Naveen, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray were present.

Earlier, a large number of people attended Ajit Pawar's funeral procession. Traffic jams were witnessed on the roads during Pawar's funeral procession.

Ajit Pawar's body was brought to his Katewadi residence on Thursday morning. Pawar died in a plane crash at 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, killing five people, including Pawar's security guard, two pilots, and a female crew member. A three-day state mourning period has been declared in Maharashtra. During this period, the national flag will fly at half-mast on all government buildings across the state.

Police have filed an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in connection with the plane crash. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has also taken over the investigation. The plane, with registration number VT-SSK, was operated by VSR Ventures.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the aircraft involved in the accident was a Learjet 45 with registration VT-SSK and operated by VSR Ventures. The flight was cleared to land on Runway 11 at 8:43 a.m., after the flight crew initially decided to abort the initial landing sequence.