With only few hours left for Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to return to India, various information about the pilot before being taken captive are coming to light.
According to reports, Varthaman stuffed documents into his mouth after he came to know that he landed on Pakistani soil. On raising patriotic slogans he was attacked by three locals of the village fafter which he fired in the air as self defense.
Speaking to the BBC, Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry, the chief of Horran village in Pakistan, said that he ran to the spot along with other villagers when he saw the MiG 21 crashing to the ground. Wing Commander Varthaman's first question on landing was whether he was in India, Chaudhry said, disclosing that the pilot was pelted with stones and also shot in the leg. "I had seen the Indian flag on his parachute and knew he was Indian".
Reportedly, the Wing Commander asked some of the villagers if he was in India, in which he was tricked by the villagers with an affirmative response, leading the pilot to raise patriotic slogans about India. Later, "The boys around him responded by saying, 'Long live Pakistan'!" said Chaudhury, adding that Varthaman then pulled out his gun and fired in the air to intimidate them. The move led to more hostility and the villagers began pelting stones at the IAF pilot.
The Wing Commander was also assaulted by the "angry" mob and after which the Pakistani Army officers came and took him away.
