Ex-Maharashtra minister claims son ‘taken’ on Bangkok flight ‘forcefully’, lodges police complaint

Ex-Maharashtra minister claims son ‘taken’ on Bangkok flight ‘forcefully’, lodges police complaint

Ex-Maharashtra minister claims son ‘taken’ on Bangkok flight ‘forcefully’, lodges police complaint ByHT News Desk Feb 10, 2025 09:32 PM IST Share Via Copy Link Ranjan Kumar Sharma, joint commissioner of police, said they received information that Rishiraj Sawant had boarded a flight from the airport.

The Pune police on Monday registered a kidnapping case after former Maharashtra minister Tanaji Sawant’s son went missing from the Pune airport on Monday evening.

Ex-Maharashtra minister Tanaji Sawant (middle)(X)

Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the leader told them that two people "took his son forcefully" on a flight to Thailand's Bangkok.

"We have got a complaint of Rishiraj Sawant being kidnapped. We have registered a complaint of kidnapping. Tanaji Sawant has told us that two people have taken his son forcefully on a flight to Bangkok. We have got in touch with DGCA and are getting the flight diverted to Indian soil," he told HT.

The Pune police control room received an anonymous call at around 4 pm on Monday claiming the 32-year-old son of the Shiv Sena politician, Rishiraj Sawant, had been kidnapped by two people.

Ranjan Kumar Sharma, the joint commissioner of police, said they received information that Rishiraj Sawant had boarded a flight from the airport.

"We have registered a case of kidnapping with the Sinhgad Road police station and the investigation has been handed over to the crime branch," he told PTI.

Also read: Ajit Pawar-led NCP objects to Tanaji Sawant's ‘offensive remarks’

Former minister Sawant, who reached the Pune commissioner's office later, however, said his son was with his friends and not kidnapped.

"We are just worried because he left for the airport without informing me or my elder son," Tanaji Sawant said.

The Shiv Sena leader said he made a call to the police after coming to know his son had left for the airport in someone else's car, reported PTI.

Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar later said the plane carrying Rishiraj Sawant landed at the Pune airport.Aviation sources told HT that the plane deviated from its path and turned back to Pune.