Pak Army regular who shot down Sq Ldr Ahuja’s MiG-21 killed

KARGIL, JULY 13: A Pakistani Army regular who shot down an Indian MiG-21 fighter aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja on May 27...

KARGIL, JULY 13: A Pakistani Army regular who shot down an Indian MiG-21 fighter aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja on May 27 was killed in the course of action by the Bihar Regiment in Batalik recently.

During the mopping-up operations in Juber Hill, the Army recovered a diary of Havaldar Bhasharat Ali which revealed that he had fired a missile at the aircraft.

Ali, who was posted at the Akil sector in Kargil, mentioned in his diary that he fired a missile at an Indian aircraft at 11.25 am on May 27 and the aircraft had been hit, defence sources said.

Ahuja had bailed out after his MiG-21 was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile. Post-mortem of his body revealed that he had been shot at after he landed by parachute in Pakistan-occupied territory close to the Turtuk area.

Ajuha was on a mission to attack Pakistani infiltrators along with a MiG-27 flown by Flight Lieutenant K Nachiketa whose aircraft crashed following engine trouble. Nachiketa, who was captured by Pakistani troops, returned to India after eight days in captivity.