NEW DELHI – Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman has suffered no ‘significant’ injuries except a minor rib fracture and some bruises, a hospital official said on Saturday.
The IAF officer, who returned to India on Friday night after being in the Pakistan Army’s captivity, underwent a medical checkup at the Army’s Research and Referral (R&R) hospital in Delhi, the official added.
He is likely to be discharged by Tuesday. Thereafter, he will have a debriefing with top government officials, including from the Indian Air Force, on his plane crash and what happened to him during his captivity, besides his own assessment of the situation there. It will also involve his psychological evaluation, he maintained.
They confirmed that Varthaman has suffered no ‘significant’ injuries. However, he has been admitted at the hospital for two days for observation and recuperation from a fractured rib and a back contusion.
Later, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Varthaman on Saturday afternoon. The defence ministry said that she met the pilot at the R&R Hospital and inquired about his health. He was in ‘high spirits’ and was ‘happy’ to meet her, said the ministry.
Varthaman’s debriefing is unlikely to happen at the hospital and will take place only when he moves out of it. During the debriefing, he will be asked about the sequence of events starting from the crash to him being captured. He will also be asked about his questioning in Pakistan and his observations to gather any intelligence, the official expressed.
Courtesy: ET
