Where 'Dada' fell: Mourners and farmers gather at edge of Baramati runway

Despite the area being cordoned off and police personnel deployed near the site, scores of people were seen flocking to the spot and crossing the runway strip just to catch a glimpse of the wreckage.

For the people of Baramati, the spot 200 meters from the table-top airport runway isn't just a crash site, it is now a point of convergence for thousands of mourning supporters and curious onlookers. After the dust settled from the state funeral of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday, the route leading to the crash site, near the Baramati airstrip in Pune district, was filled not only with forensic and aviation experts but with commoners. Clad in their white attire of mourning, people came from far off areas as they wanted to visit the spot where their ''Dada'' (elder brother as Ajit Pawar was called by his supporters) had breathed his last. Among the crowd stood Ashok Jamadar, a farmer from Indapur town in the district who came all the way travelling 60 kms as he felt he owed it to the man who changed his life. With his wife by his side, holding him up, Jamadar wept because to him, Pawar was more than a high-ranking politician, but the man who made sure his family survived. ''I am a farmer. Because of the decisions Ajit dada took, my loan of Rs 3 lakh was about to be waived,'' Jamadar said, his voice shaking. ''He was a man of action. Whatever he promised, he delivered,'' he said. As deputy CM, Pawar (66) held the finance and planning portfolio and would have presented the state budget for 2026-27 in the next few weeks. Following the crash, the area where the aircraft wreckage is lying was cordoned off by police as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), a division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, began its probe. Despite the area being cordoned off and police personnel deployed near the site, scores of people were seen flocking to the spot and crossing the runway strip just to catch a glimpse of the wreckage. Another local resident, Rajendra Dhamale, complained that police were not allowing people to go near the crash site. ''We could only see the crash site from a distance,'' he said. To prevent people from approaching the crash site, the local administration has deployed police personnel within a 500-metre radius. ''A lot of people from adjoining villages had come to attend the last rites and, while returning home, several of them flocked to the Baramati airport. Anticipating this, we deployed additional police force at the airstrip. The aircraft wreckage is crucial for probe and the area has been cordoned off with adequate police cover to ensure the spot is not tampered with,'' said Sandip Singh Gill, Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural). Besides Pawar, four other persons on board the ill-fated chartered aircraft were also killed in the crash.

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