Indian pilot Abhinandan swallowed papers before being captured by Pakistan villagers

Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman reportedly swallowed secret documents and dumped other papers of his survival kit in a pond before being captured by Pakistani civilians.

Abhinandan is likely to reach the Wagah border on Friday afternoon where thousands of Indians, some waving flags and singing, gathered on Friday to give him a hero's welcome.

He was handed over to the Pakistan army in a survival-behind-enemy-lines drama that also saw him discharge his pistol in the air to scare off a mob while one of the civilians shot at his leg, reports The Times of India.

The MiG 21 Bison he was flying was shot down during an aerial dogfight with Pakistani air force on Wednesday. His capture had heightened tension between the neighbours, but the standoff has since cooled after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that he would be returned as a “peace gesture”.

Recounting the dramatic events leading to the pilot’s capture, Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry, the chief of Horran village in Pakistan, told the BBC that he ran to the spot along with other villagers when he saw the MiG 21 crashing to the ground.

Abhinandan’s first question on landing was whether he was in India, Chaudhry said. “I had seen the Indian flag on his parachute and knew he was Indian.”

According to the 58-year-old eyewitness, villagers tricked him with an affirmative response, leading the pilot to raise patriotic slogans about India.

However, he was in for a shock. “The boys around him responded by saying, ‘Long live Pakistan!’

Wing Commander Abhinandan 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 pilot, Chaudhury told the BBC.