The two-seater plane carrying Kunda legislator Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and his companion Julfiqar,which crash-landed on Sunday,had taken off from Beti near Kunda in Pratapgarh without the permission of the Air Traffic Control (ATC). Confirming this,sources in the ATC at Bamraulli,Allahabad,said,No permission was taken from ATC by Raghuraj Pratap Singh before the flight took off on March 22. Late on Tuesday evening,the Hathgawan police lodged a case against Raja Bhaiyya,Julfiqar and Capt Ramesh Chandra Ramnani under Section 2/3 of the Aircraft Act 1934 and Sections 279,338,201 of the IPC. The sections cover charges of flying an aircraft without a licence,flying in a prohibited area,not informing ATC before flying and causing danger to public by flying without a skilled pilot. Chandra,a private pilot,has been booked for misleading the police by sending a telegram to SP of Pratapgarh after the crash that he was flying the aircraft. An inquiry by the Director of Air Security showed that Raja Bhaiyya was flying the aircraft,said Mohit Agrawal,SP of Pratapgarh. Deputy Superintendent of Police I P Singh of Pratapgarh,who is helping in the investigation,said neither Raja Bhaiyya nor Julfiqar had so far shown any document to prove that they were qualified to fly the aircraft. Singh and Julfiqar were injured and admitted in an Allahabad hospital. Both are out of danger. Civil aviation officials from Lucknow and New Delhi and officials of the Air Defence Centre from Lucknow have arrived in Pratapgarh to investigate the incident in which the aircraft crash-landed on the bank of the Ganga under Hathigawan police station in Pratapgarh on March 22 . Officials have visited the spot,inspected the damaged aircraft and questioned Raja Bhaiyya and Julfiqar. Sources said both had refused to disclose which of the two was flying the aircraft. Director General of Civil Aviation Naseem Zaidi,refusing to divulge further details,told The Indian Express that the matter was under investigation and a report was expected within 10 days. The aircraft,owned by the legislator,took off from his Bhadri estate in Pratapgarh at 5.15 pm on March 22. While one version says that the MLA wanted to go to Hathigawan to address a public meeting,another says that the two men had just wanted to take a joyride. After some time,the plane reportedly developed a technical snag. The pilot tried to land on a highway,but lost control and the aircraft dashed against the concrete river bank. (With ENS Delhi)
