The year was 1999. Kargil war was going on between India and Pakistan. Flight Lieutenant Kambampati Nachiketa, 26, was serving in the war-torn Batalik area in IAF Dal-9. Nachiketa was given the responsibility of attacking enemy positions from a height of 17,000 feet. The date was - 27 May 1999. Nachiketa set the target with his fighter aircraft MiG-27. He had just fired that his engine caught fire.
The engine was on fire due to the smoke coming out during firing. Nachiketa was somehow struggling to control the fire. But could not succeed. In such a situation, he had to make a landing in the snow-capped mountain Munthudalo in enemy territory. Another brave companion of his, Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, was looking for him from the MiG-21. But by then Pakistani missile Anja had targeted Ahuja's aircraft.
Nachiketa had not yet recovered from his emergency landing and the explosion in his friend's plane that the Pakistani army started attacking him too. Nachiketa gathered courage and kept fighting with bullets in his pistol. But as soon as the bullets ended, the enemy army surrounded them. This incident was told by Nachiketa in an interview given to a TV channel.
Right torture in Pakistan jail
Nachiketa was caught. He was put in the jail of Rawalpindi. The Pakistani army tortured him a lot in order to get the secrets of India from him. brutally tortured. According to Nachiketa, the Pakistani army wanted to kill him because he was an enemy to them.
However, later a Pakistani Army officer intervened. They knew that Nachiketa was now a prisoner of war and that he should be treated with a lawful attitude. The torture stopped after the orders of the same officer. Nachiketa felt that he would hardly be able to go back to his homeland.
Watan Wapsi and Gallantry Award
He remained as a prisoner of war in Pakistan jail till 3 June 1999. He was then handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross Society in Pakistan under pressure from India, the United Nations and the international media. After the efforts of the Government of India, he was sent back home through the Bagha border of India.
Nachiketa returned home and when people started calling him a hero, he flatly refused. Said- I am only a soldier and am ready for the next flight. He said that a pilot's heart is always in the cockpit. Nachiketa had suffered a serious spinal injury and had to undergo medical treatment.
Due to the injury, he could not be deployed in the fighters plane, but he was included in the transport fleet of the Air Force. Flight Lieutenant Nachiketa was awarded the Vayu Sena Gallantry Medal for his outstanding service during the Kargil War.
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