Chennai, April 4: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's father, Air Marshal (retired) Simhakutty Vardhaman, said the Indian Air Force's airstrikes at Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp at Pakistan's Balakot could have killed 250-300 terrorists. He made the remarks while interacting students of defence studies at IIT-Madras on Wednesday. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was briefly in Pakistan's custody after a dogfight with Pakistan Air Force's aircraft a day after Balakot airstrikes.

"The Indian Air Force strike happened when the maximum targets were inside the camp. The structural damage might be limited, but the fuse of the bomb is delayed to ensure maximum casualties," Air Marshal (retired) Simhakutty Vardhaman told students, TOI reported. He went on to explain how the IAF misguided PAF and got rid of their F-16s by scrambly aircraft towards Bahawalpur, which is the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Remains in High Spirit Despite Mental Harassment in Pakistan.

"Pakistan’s F-16s and AMRAAM missiles were the real threat to us. We had to first get F-16s off our back by making sure they were headed to some other direction when we were going to Balakot. So we did a lot of deception," he said. "Basically, we launched seven aircraft towards Bahawalpur, which is the headquarters of JeM. Pakistan thought we were on the way to attack Bahawalpur and sent F-16s to engage with our fighter aircraft.

Simultaneously, we launched aircraft to attack Balakot. In a nutshell, the Pakistan Air Air Force was deceived completely," he explained. He said even though Pakistan was ready to thwart any attack from India, but the IAF succeeded in misleading them. The decorated air marshal, however, said these details may not be absolute truth. IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Returns to his Squadron in Srinagar.

Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan after his MiG-21 crashed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following an aerial engagement with Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets, returned to India on March 1. Varthaman had shot down an F-16 fighter of Pakistan Air Force during the aerial engagement.

Abhinandan's aircraft was hit when he along with other IAF pilot thwarted Pakistan's attempt to target military installations on the Indian side, said the government. This happened a day after India launched an anti-terror strike against a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror training camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

India’s airstrike came in the aftermath of the February 14 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district in which around 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2019 12:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).