August 17, 2026 02:47 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
After SC rebuke, BCI chief apologises to NALSAR students over enrolment freeze row | Independence Day: PM Modi’s big youth pitch— AI training, free coaching amid exam row and job concerns | ‘Shakti Ki Saptadhara’: Modi reveals 7 pillars to power India’s next leap in his I-Day speech from Red Fort | West Bengal STF arrests 3 more suspected Pakistani spies in Cooch Behar | Bengal man arrested in Bengaluru over terror links, Afghanistan travel plan | Ajit Doval breaks silence on Operation Sindoor in Discovery’s explosive new docuseries | Rahul Gandhi's 'mock hug' taunt sparks row; Centre stresses 'mutual respect' with Italy | Delhi on high alert: Bomb threat to High Court, airport and multiple locations ahead of I-Day | ‘Who are they to interfere?’: CJI Surya Kant slams Bar Council of India over NALSAR students’ enrolment row | 'Shows how low Congress has sunk': BJP slams Rahul Gandhi over Modi foreign policy jibe
Abhinandan Varthman

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman who shot down Pak Jet, promoted to the rank of Group Captain

| @indiablooms | Nov 04, 2021, at 11:07 pm

New Delhi/UNI: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman, who was involved in a dogfight with Pakistani fighter aircraft a day after the Balakot airstrike, has been promoted to the rank of Group Captain, sources said.

Varthman was among the pilots who faced the Pakistani fighter jets on February 27, 2019, a day after India conducted an airstrike at a terrorist camp in Balakot on February 26, 2019.

In response to the airstrike, Pakistan scrambled its fighter jets.

According to the IAF, Abhinandan's MiG-21 shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet, before being shot down.

He landed on the Pakistani side of the border, and was held captive for about 60 hours before being released.

Pakistan had denied reports of its F-16 aircraft being shot down.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman was awarded a Vir Chakra, the third-highest wartime gallantry award.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.