Suspects in Ambani helicopter sabotage acquitted: no proof

The court,while acquitting Uday Wanekar and Pairaj Thewar,employees of the firm responsible for maintaining the helicopter who were suspended after the incident,did not rule out the role of an insider from the firm,Airworks in the sabotage.

In the first-ever order under the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act,1982 (SUSCA),the sessions court made sharp observations on the role of Airworks. “One cannot rule out the role of management (Airworks,the firm responsible for maintaining the helicopter) in the plot to sabotage the chopper,” the court observed. The court also said the police had failed to find the main suspect.

In April 2009,a technician had found pebbles in the filter cap of the compound gearbox of the helicopter,a VT RCL- 412.

Judge M V Kulkarni,in his oral judgment,said,“the mysterious death of technician Bharat Borge,who found pebbles and mud in the gearbox of the helicopter,leaves several questions unanswered. The police should have probed the death and should have taken his role into consideration.”

Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said,“Both the accused were tried under Section 3 (1)(b) of SUSCA read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal code (IPC) and 440 read with Section 34 of the IPC. It was the first such case where any accused was tried under the stringent SUSCA.”

Of the 12 witnesses examined,prime witness and technician at the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group (ADAG),Rama Shankar Chauhan,had backtracked from his claim that he had seen Wanekar on top of the chopper hours before the incident came to light. “There was an omission in the statement by Chauhan. His retraction made our case stronger. The prosecution also failed to bring on record any worker who were at work on the day of incident,” said defence lawyer Vinayak Bichu.

Wanekar and Thewar,in their 30s,had been with Airworks for years. “As the were among the few people who had an access to the area where the helicopter was parked and the police conveniently based investigations on this fact and booked them. The real culprits were saved in the process,” said Bichu.

The saboteurs had no specific target in mind and the intention was to cause panic through a crash,the prosecution had said. “They did not have any target in mind. The act was the outcome of an internal fight between the management of Airworks and the union. The accused belonged to the Maharashtra General Kamgar Mahasangh. These two accused were the pawns of the labour union,” the prosecution had argued.

The court said the role of the accused was not clearly pointed out and the prosecution had been unable to establish the management’s innocence.

Wanekar and Thewar,along with 52 other workers,had been suspended by Airworks after the incident. Wanekar said,“We are fighting a case in the labour court for our reinstatement. The sessions court judgment vindicates our stand.”