Mumbai: The family of Pinky Mali, a flight attendant who died in the Baramati plane crash, has alleged that the owner of the charter company involved in the incident attempted to pressure them to stay away from speaking to the media.
According to the family, VSR owner V.K. Singh allegedly warned Pinky Mali’s brother, Karan Mali, not to speak publicly about the incident or give statements to the media.
Pinky Mali was among those on board the chartered aircraft that crashed in Baramati. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister late Ajit Pawar was also travelling on the same aircraft and was killed in the crash.
Speaking to IANS, Karan Mali claimed that he received a call from the company owner shortly after the incident.
“On February 28, I received a phone call from VSR company owner V.K. Singh. He spoke to me in a loud voice and asked what my father was saying in the media. I told him that I would give him my father’s number so he could speak to him directly, but he said he would not talk to him and told me to explain things to my father,” Karan Mali said.
He further said that after the conversation, he reached out to Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Rohit Pawar, who is the nephew of Ajit Pawar, and informed him about the developments.
“We have explained all this to Rohit Pawar. He is supporting us, and that is why this issue is still in the news. We had even called the VSR owner just a few days ago and asked what happened to my sister’s insurance. He said that we are giving loose statements to the media and should stop doing that,” he said.
“At first, he (Singh) talked normally, but also put all the blame for the crash on the pilot. How can he blame the pilot? They are trying to put pressure on us,” Mali added.
Pinky Mali’s father, Shivkumar Mali, also spoke about the alleged pressure and said that the family had been asked to avoid speaking to the media about the incident.
“We have been told to stay away from the media. A message saying things like this came to my son’s phone. We feel that maybe they are trying to scare us or threaten us, or it could be that they are speaking normally — it is hard to understand over the phone. But they are clearly saying not to give statements to the media and to stay away from it. Who should we tell our pain to?” Shivkumar Mali said.
He also expressed disappointment over the lack of support the family has received since the tragedy.
“Someone should help us, but that is not happening. Neither the government is helping us nor have we received any help from the VSR company,” he added.
(IANS)
