Ajit Pawar Death Fact Check: Did Wikipedia List Ajit Pawar’s Death Before Baramati Plane Crash?

Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar died on Wednesday morning, 28 January, when an aircraft carrying him crashed while attempting to land near Baramati at around 8:45 am IST. Five people were killed in the accident. Aviation authorities and investigators have confirmed that the death was directly linked to the crash.

Hours after Ajit Pawar's death, some social media posts and photos went viral claiming that Wikipedia recorded the death of Ajit Pawar nearly 20 hours before his plane crashed near Baramati on 28 January, suggesting prior knowledge or a conspiracy.

Ajit Pawar Death Fact Check Of Viral Wikipedia Post:

The claim is false. A review of Wikipedia edit logs, time-zone settings and technical tools shows that the confusion arose due to misreading UTC timestamps and the circulation of manipulated screenshots.

Reason 1: Wikipedia uses UTC, not Indian time

Wikipedia records all edits in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), not Indian Standard Time (IST). India is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of UTC.

This means:

An edit made at 9:30 am IST on 28 January

Will appear in Wikipedia logs as 4:00 am UTC on 28 January

For users unfamiliar with time zones, this creates the false impression that edits were made hours earlier than the actual event.

Reason 2: Page edits happened after news broke

Wikipedia editors and digital analysts confirm that Ajit Pawar's page was updated after news of the crash became public, starting around 9:30 am IST. Because of UTC timestamps, these updates appear earlier when viewed without time-zone conversion.

This is standard during breaking news events, especially involving senior political figures.

Reason 3: Wikipedia is open-source and updates rapidly

Wikipedia allows any registered user to edit pages. When major incidents occur, multiple users often update articles within minutes, causing timestamps to change frequently. These timestamps reflect edit activity, not the time of death.

Reason 4: Some viral screenshots may be digitally altered

Cyber experts point out that several viral images appear to have been created using the "Inspect Element" tool available in web browsers. This tool allows users to temporarily change on-screen text or timestamps and then take screenshots without altering the real website.

Such images are not reliable evidence.

Reason 5: Official aviation records support the accident timeline

Flight tracking data and Air Traffic Control (ATC) logs place the crash firmly at 8:45 am IST on 28 January. Preliminary findings suggest poor runway visibility as a contributing factor. No official agency has found evidence of foul play.

Why this matters

Fact-checkers say this episode highlights how technical misunderstandings and photo manipulation can quickly fuel misinformation during sensitive moments. Experts urge the public to verify timestamps, check time zones and rely on official sources before drawing conclusions.