Feared Kidnapped, Ex-Minister's Son's Flight To Thailand For 'Business Trip' Recalled Midair

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Hours after former Maharashtra minister Tanaji Sawant's son, Rishiraj Sawant, was reported missing on February 10, a chartered flight that had departed from Pune to Bangkok, Thailand, made a U-turn midair.

As reported by PTI, the flight carrying Rishiraj and two of his friends returned to Pune after aviation authorities verified a request to change the flight's course, halting their trip to the Thai capital.

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The flight turned back and landed at Pune airport between 8 pm and 8:30 pm on Monday, abruptly cutting short their trip to the Thai capital. The change in plans was not disclosed to the former minister, who is a leader of the ruling Shiv Sena, or his family.

PTI reported that the executive of the company operating the airline insisted on Wednesday that the decision to divert the airborne plane to Pune was made only after due verification.

Here's why flight got diverted

Rishiraj Sawant and his two friends, heading to Bangkok on what they later claimed was a“business trip”, were hurriedly brought back to Pune after police registered a kidnapping case following an anonymous call and intervention of his father Tanaji Sawant.

“When we received the first call (from family members) asking us to turnaround the flight, we did not believe it. We cannot believe these kinds of calls as they could be hoax,” the executive from the airline operator said.

“But after due verification from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and knowing it pertained to a kidnapping case being probed by police, the decision to turnaround the flight was taken and it returned to Pune,” he said.

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