"Both IAF jets were shot inside Pak territory which were involved in hostile attack"
"A living prisoner is more useful than a dead one, Pak Army did not kill Ahuja"
"No one, not even the Defence Attache turned up to receive their own pilot"
Indian Air Force openly entered into the conflict on 26 May 1999 and launched air strikes 10 kms across LoC inside Pakistani territory. Pakistan warned that if India would continue to violate its airspace than it would target them in retaliation. On 27 May 1999, IAF MiG-27ML (Serial No. 1135) flown by Flt Lt K. Nachiketa of No. 9 Squadron intruded into Pakistan airspace at 11:15 a.m. (PST) near Hunzi Ghund. It intruded twice and first marked a Pakistani position on the LoC with smoke bombs and then came in for a rocketing and strafing attack on the same post. Gunner Shafaqat Ali commanded by Capt. Faheem Tipu of Air Defence using an ANZA-II SAM tracked and shot down the MiG as it exited. The pilot ejected and was taken POW. He resisted with his pistol after landing and was involved in a fire fight with Pakistani troops to evade capture.
Shortly later, two more Indian MiG-21 jets intruded into Pakistan airspace at 11:35 a.m. (PST) and dived in for a rocketing attack on the same Pakistani position. Naik Talib Hussain Basharat again commanded by Capt. Faheem Tipu started tracking and one of the MiG-21 (Serial No. C1539) was shot down again with ANZA-II SAM at a height of 1,500 metres. The wreckage fell 10-12 kilometres inside Pakistan territory. The pilot, Sqn Ldr Ajay Ahuja of No. 17 Squadron was killed and the body was handed over to India on 29 May 1999.
Pak Army soldiers with the tail of Indian MiG-21 fighter jet in Hunzi Ghund in Pakistan territory.
After the Indian jets were shot down, Indian media started a propaganda that Pakistan Army could not shoot any Indian aircrafts and the IAF is continuing their activities. The Pakistani defence spokesman Brig. Rashid Qureshi refuted it and cleared that after the Indian planes had been shot down they did not violate the Pakistani airspace and continued to patrol inside Indian territory at a very high altitude.
When FIt Lt. Nachiketa was released on 4 June 1999 as a unilateral gesture of goodwill by Pakistan, on the order of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, no one, not even the Defence Attache turned up to receive their own pilot. The reason they did not want to be publicly seen receiving their prisoner pilot back. The Foreign Office had taken precautions to associate the ICRC with the wellbeing of the Indian pilot. They examined him and found him medically fit in the condition they took his custody and transported him to the border. Squadron Leader Ahuja's body was returned with full military honours by the Pakistan Army, that has always stuck by the traditions of the battlefield. As Ahuja's body was handed over to India, even before any post-mortem examination it raised alarm that Ahuja may have shot dead after he had parachuted safely to the ground. India had maintained that the Ahuja had "ejected after his MiG-21 was hit by a surface to air missile fired upon from across the LoC."Later India maintained that according to the post-mortem report Ahuja was shot twice-once through the ear and again in the chest. India launched strong protest with Pakistan over the 'brutal shooting' of Sqn Ldr. Ahuja by his Pakistani captors. This was another attempt to malign Pakistan in the eyes of the world. Knowing fully well that Ahuja fighter plane was shot down when it was engaged in rocketing, artillery firing and automatic firing. In such a combat situation some bullets hitting Ahuja can not be ruled out.
IAF changed their operational technique after their jets were shot down and used Jaguars and Mirage 2000 fighter jets. They also began using laser-guided bombs from high-altitude. As a result, their bombing was ineffective and they failed to clear the targets.
The remains of the ejection seat and other survival equipments belonging to one of the downed MiGs.
