Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman bravery and valour on the day of the 27th has sent out goosebumps. Here is a complete story since the 27th morning.
On the 27th of February Pakistani jets formation was detected at 9:45 am, 10 kilometers within the Line of Control in India. The twenty-four Pakistani air force strike package included eight F-16s, four Mirage-3 aircraft, four Chinese made JF-17 “Thunder” fighter.
Eight Indian Air Force fighter jets intercepted the twenty-four package in the air.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman piloted the MiG 21 Bison engaged with an R-73 air-to-air missile against Pakistani F-16 jet. The Pakistani F-16 fighter jet was shot down, two pilots were seen parachuting down on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control.
Indian Air Force gave a chase to the Pakistani jets on their return leg after they had dropped a handful of laser-guided bombs that narrowly missed their military targets.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s plane was hit by an AMRAAM, he was forced to eject in the Pakistani side of the LOC.
On landing on the wrong side of the border, Wing commander Abinandhan was held by three Pakistani civilians 8 kilometers away from the Line of Control (LOC). As soon as the Pakistani civilian Razzaq Chaudhry saw a parachute comedown, he called two of his friends and asked them to reach the location immediately.
The Wing Commander by then had unstrapped his parachute asked the youth if he landed in India or Pakistan. One of the mob told him it was India, immediately Abinandhan raised pro-India slogans. He asked for water as he was thirsty and told that his back was broken.
Immediately the mob tried raised pro Pakistan slogans and started assaulting him. In self defence Abinandhan drew his pistol and fired in air to scare away the mob.
According to official documents, Abhinandhan swallowed some of the crucial documents and jumped into a nearby pond. He was pulled back, documents were seized and a youth shot on his leg. Six Pakistani army soldiers arrived and took him into custody.
He was driven 58 kilometers into the Muzaffarabad headquarters, in a Pakistani jeep.
Later the Pakistani army released several videos of the Wing Commander Abinandhan Varthaman in captivity, parading him. This drew major international criticism after Pakistan violated the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war.
The Pakistani army later recovered some mud soaked documents – a pink coloured book on “Survival on Land”, a blue notebook and a map were recovered from the pond after they captured him.
The PM of Pakistan Imran Khan after international pressure was forced to confirm the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, to play safe from international scrutiny Mr. Khan called the release a “Gesture of Peace”.