Why Bangkok Flight Carrying Ex-Maharashtra Minister’s Son Turned Back Mid-Air

All was going according to plan on the chartered flight to Bangkok on Monday. But in mid-air, a surprise instruction changed the route—the plane was asked to head back to Pune.

On board was Rushiraj Sawant, the son of former Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena MLC Tanaji Sawant. His abrupt disappearance with two friends had raised panic back home, resulting in a kidnapping complaint and police probe. A dramatic twist of events later, the flight was back where it had started from.

The Disappearance That Sparked Panic

Rushiraj, 32, had traveled to Bangkok with two friends on a chartered flight without letting his family know. When his parents were unable to contact him, worry about his whereabouts intensified.

Things were serious enough when an unknown caller tipped off the police control room that the son of the ex-minister had been kidnapped by some unknown people. One of the employees of the Jayawant Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (JSPM) Trust run institute JSPM Narhe Technical Campus also alleged that Rushiraj had been dragged away in a Swift vehicle.

Acting with speed, Pune City Police lodged an FIR for kidnapping, and the case was assigned to the Crime Branch. Tanaji Sawant and his family approached main officials, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, senior Mumbai leaders, and the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, asking them to intervene urgently to rescue Rushiraj.

“It never happens in our home. Even though he (Rushiraj) is headed to Wakad in the outskirts of Pimpri-Chinchwad, he tells me,” Tanaji Sawant said in a press conference. “But when we got to know that he had gone with two friends without taking his car and had taken a private chartered flight, we became concerned…And because of this, I called CP saheb (the Police commissioner of Pune), other senior officers and Fadnavis saheb (CM Devendra Fadnavis). Police are also trying their level best and we are also trying our level best to bring him back.”

Mid-Air Intervention

During the probe, officials found that Rushiraj and his friends had chartered a flight to Bangkok a day earlier for Rs. 78 lakh from a Noida-based charter operator. The pilots were crossing Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands when they were ordered to come back.

The airline operators were initially doubtful. “When we got the first call from relatives requesting us to make a U-turn, we did not believe it. We do not normally believe such calls because they might be a hoax,” said an airline executive to PTI. “But after confirming with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA, and knowing it was a case of kidnapping under investigation by the police, we decided to make the flight return to Pune.”

To avoid panicking the passengers, the airline made sure they did not know about the diversion. “The map and navigation screen was turned off, and they did not know that the flight was returning to Pune,” the executive disclosed. “They were simply resting after their meal.

When Rushiraj and his friends landed at Pune International Airport between 8 and 8:30 PM on Monday, they were taken aback and confronted the pilots aggressively. The pilot-in-command patiently clarified that they were obeying orders. Shortly thereafter, CISF officials entered the plane and escorted them out.

Rushiraj’s Explanation

In Pune, Rushiraj informed the police that he had taken the flight for a ‘business trip’. He confessed that after his recent trip to Dubai, he did not want his family to know that he was going abroad again, so he did not reveal the Bangkok trip. But he did not detail the business trip.

Speaking to his family, Rushiraj had described his surprise at how things had proceeded, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shailesh Balkawade said in Times of India. His friends also gave the police statements.

A top police officer confirmed that according to the statements, there was no case of abduction, and a closure report would be filed soon.

Political Fallout and Controversy

The episode ignited fierce responses from the opposition, which accused Tanaji Sawant of abusing state machinery for a personal issue. Critics described the episode as a “family feud” exaggerated out of proportion.

“Whole system has been misused just because the son of a politician stormed off to Bangkok in anger. This is sheer misuse of power,” Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said. “Both Sawant and Mohol must be taken to task in the case.”

But Rushiraj’s elder brother, Giriraj, justified their actions, saying it was not an abuse of authority. “It just happened due to panic, and a complaint of kidnapping was filed,” he said.

Though the probe is closed now, the row over the mid-air turnaround continues to create ripples in Maharashtra’s political circles.