A Pakistani pilot shot down by Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in Wednesday’s dogfight died after being beaten up by a Pakistani lynch mob, a London lawyer has claimed quoting close contacts in the

. The mob reportedly mistook him for an Indian pilot.

Pakistan’s F16 was shot down by Abhinandan flying a MiG-21 Bison when the “two sons of air marshals met mid-air over the Nowshera sector on Wednesday”, according to Pakistani-origin UK-based immigration lawyer Khalid Umar, who claims close contacts in the

Air Force (PAF). He said the F16 was flown by Wg Cdr Shahzaz Ud Din, also the son of a Pakistani Air Marshal.

TOI had in its Friday edition cited unconfirmed reports that the Pak pilot was, coincidentally, like Abhinandan, the son of an Air Marshal. The paper had deliberately not named him or said he was dead.

Islamabad continues to categorically deny any of their jets were shot down, that any of their pilots were killed, or that they had used F-16 planes in Wednesday’s “air strikes” when Pakistan violated Indian airspace. But soon after the face-off in the skies on February 27, initial reports from Pakistan had said three pilots downed, which was revised to one — Wg Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman — by the evening.

Umar told TOI he was quoting “close contacts” in PAF when he said that an F16 aircraft flown by a PAF pilot engaged in air-to-air combat with Abhinandan’s MiG-21 jet. “PAF sources told me Abhinandan fired at the F16 and then his plane was downed by anti-aircraft fire on the Pakistan side and both fell at the same time,” Umar said.

The Pakistani pilot ejected from the plane and his parachute descended into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Umar claimed his PAF sources told him. But they would not confirm, he said, that the pilot was Shahzaz.

Umar said according to eyewitness accounts and videos, an angry Pakistani mob gathered round and beat the Pakistani pilot up, apparently mistaking him to be an Indian. He was taken to hospital but died of his injuries. “This is all based on media reports and videos I have seen. It came online in Pakistan, then was censored and removed but I had already seen it. When I asked my PAF source whether the Pakistani pilot died they would not confirm.”

Umar said his interest was sparked by a tweet by Air Marshal Raghu Nambiar @Nambitiger1, on February 28. “The pilot who was killed by Wg Cdr Abhinandan has been now identified by the PAF as Wg Cdr Shahzaz Ud Din of No 19 Squadron (Sherdils) flying F16 A/B.”

Nambiar also retweeted a tweet by Hukum @reachanshuk which read: “The PAF F16 Pilot shot down by the Mig-21 Bison of the IAF …is the son of Air Marshal Waseem Ud Din, Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) PAF.”

Umar, who comes from Lahore, but is now a British citizen, says he asked his contacts in PAF about these tweets. “They confirmed that Shahzaz is the son of Air Marshal Waseem Ud Din and Shahzaz is a PAF pilot. But they would not confirm Shahzaz was flying the plane that was shot down… Pakistan was not meant to fly any of these F16s against India. Even Imran Khan said originally two Indian pilots had been captured. Where is the second pilot?”

On Wednesday, Pakistan Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said at a press conference: “Our ground forces arrested two pilots; one of them was injured and has been shifted to CMH [Combined Military Hospital]."

New Delhi has maintained it lost one MiG-21 fighter and one pilot was missing and that India had shot down a Pakistani fighter jet and observed it falling on the Pakistan side of the LoC.

But Islamabad has not explained what happened to the other pilot. Though there are several reports suggesting that pilot was Shahzaz Ud Din, there are reports to the contrary as well, especially in the absence of official word from Islamabad.

As the lawyer says, “If Pakistan wants to disprove it, all they have to do is to put Shahzaz on TV and say he is alive.”