IAF Plane Shot Down, Pilot Taken Captive By Pak. Army

• MiG-21 takes a hit while trying to intercept Pakistan’s planes
• MEA demands ‘safe and immediate return’ of Wing Commander
• PAF aircraft drop bombs at four locations in Jammu and Kashmir

- Suhasini Haidar Dinakar Peri

An Indian pilot was captured by Pakistan after a major aerial confrontation and chase between Pakistan Air Force planes, which dropped bombs in four locations of Jammu and Kashmir, and Indian Air Force jets that countered them over the Line of Control (LoC).

The confrontation began after Pakistan sent several aircraft to the LoC on Wednesday morning in retaliation for the Indian Air Force strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammad camp in Balakot a day earlier.

The government said IAF jets shot down an F-16 jet of the PAF in the skirmish, and the wreckage had fallen on the Pakistan side. Pakistan’s military, however, denied the loss of any aircraft.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman began to chase the Pakistani jets to push them back, when he had to eject over the LoC after the MiG-21 he was flying was shot by a Pakistani plane. He landed in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, where he was taken into custody.

Details awaited