Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is an Indian Air Force pilot who was held captive in Pakistan during the Indian Pakistan standoff for three days.
Born and brought up in a village named Thirupanamoor near Kanchipuram, Abhinandan followed in the footsteps of his father, Mr. Simhakutty Varthaman, who himself is a retired Air Marshal of IAF (Indian Air Force).His mother, Shobha Varthaman, is a doctor who specialises in providing humanitarian medical aid in war zones. Even his wife is retired IAF Squadron leader.
He graduated from the National Defence Academy and joined the IAF in 2004 as a fighter pilot. Before serving MiG-21 Bison Squadron, he was a Su-30 MKI pilot.
Abhinandan gained recognition due to his capture by Pakistan during his term as a MiG-21. He was captured on 27th February 2019, for 3 days. During the aerial dogfight between India and Pakistan, his plane was shot down and he had to evacuate the plane immediately in order to save his life.
On landing he could not recognise the place and asked the peddlers whether he was in India. The localites recognised him as an Indian Pilot because of his parachute which had a Indian flag on it. The localites then started chasing him and he ran for 500m before being caught by them. The agitated population started beating him till the Pakistan army arrived and saved him.
On 28th February Pakistan's Prime Minister, Imran Khan, announced in the parliament that Pakistan would release the pilot as a symbol of peace.
On 1st March, finally the pilot crossed the Wagah border and came back home, where he was welcomed by the Indian Prime Minister, many high officials, his family and a crowd of indian citizens all eager for his arrival. He is currently receiving medical treatment for the physicaland mental injuries caused to him and wishes to join the air force soon.