Did Sena MLA Tanaji Sawant misguide authorities in son's mid-air return?

Questions have emerged over whether Shiv Sena leader MLA and former minister Tanaji Sawant misled authorities, including the police, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and the union minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, in a dramatic sequence of events that saw his son Rushiraj Sawant's chartered flight return to Pune mid-air.

- Shrinivas Deshpande

PUNE:

Rushiraj, 32, along with two friends, had taken a flight to Bangkok from Pune on Monday without informing his family. On his return, Rushiraj told the police he was visiting Bangkok for a business trip.

Sources from the firm offering Chartered flight confirmed that instructions had been given to hold Rushiraj and his friends upon landing in Bangkok.

"We, along with the police, had planned multiple ways to bring them back safely. If they had landed in Bangkok, Plan B was to ensure they remained inside the aircraft until local authorities intervened," said an aviation firm executive.

It is learnt that Indian police and central agencies had contacted Thai authorities, informing them of the situation and seeking their cooperation in preventing Rushiraj from clearing immigration.

When Rushiraj became unreachable, Sawant reportedly contacted chief minister Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, and union minister Murlidhar Mohol. Simultaneously, police were prompted to file a kidnapping case at Sinhgad Road police station.

However, a senior police officer requesting anonymity said that Sawant may have known his son had not been kidnapped.

Despite this, he took swift action, personally reaching the Commissioner of Police's office and calling the highest authorities to ensure the return of the flight. This has raised concerns over whether an urgent police response and government intervention were warranted in what appears to have been a family dispute.

A day after the incident, Rushiraj's elder brother, Giriraj Sawant, admitted that the family was aware of his travel plans.