Smt @nsitharaman meets Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman and his family at RR hospital, New Delhi to commend him o… https://t.co/C0oJfkJNJi — Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) 1551530900000

NEW DELHI: Contrary to the impression projected by Pakistan that it treated him well, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has told the leadership of IAF that he was subjected to mental harassment while in captivity.The fighter pilot has told the IAF brass that he was all along in the custody of Pakistan’s notorious external espionage agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence , which played a lot of mind games with him in order to break his morale even though he was spared physical torture, official sources said.Sources said the delay in handing over the IAF pilot to India was part of the harassment by ISI officers who forced him to record the video where he is seen praising Pakistan army and slandering Indian media. However, the mental torture does not seem to have worked. “He seems to be in fine spirit,” said a source after interacting with Varthaman.Varthaman is yet to undergo an intense scan for injuries he suffered while ejecting as well as in the beating he took from the mob, which had gathered in the area where he landed after bailing out. “It seems he escaped serious harm. However, it is for doctors to declare him fit for flying,” said a source.Varthaman, who was on patrol duty in J&K in his MiG-21, was downed when he entered Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir while chasing one of the F-16s that had entered Indian air space to target military installations. However, before his plane caught fire, he shot down the intruder F-16, a feat which is expected to earn him a place in aviation legends because of the huge asymmetry between the ageing MIG and contemporary F-16.He has also captured national imagination for the way he delayed his inevitable capture by firing in air to scare the mob pursuing him, and the poise with which he handled the officers of Pakistan Army when they took him into their custody.