People check the wreckage of a plane in which the deputy chief minister of India's western Maharashtra state Ajit Pawar and four other people were killed after it crash-landed in Baramati, 254 kilometers (159 miles) from Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.

An Indian state's deputy leader was killed along with four other people on Wednesday after their chartered aircraft crashed in the country's west,

Pawar's personal security officer and an assistant as well as two crew members were also on board at the time of the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement.

VSR Aviation owner V.K. Singh said the aircraft was "very well maintained", ruling out any technical failure.

"There was absolutely no problem in the aircraft. There was no technical failure as far as we know," he told reporters in New Delhi where the company is based.