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| - Fact Check: No, they are not the pilots who carried out air strikes on Pakistan
India Today found that misinformation is being spread online after Indian Air Force's raid across the Line of Control.
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India Today Fact Check
The pictures in these viral posts are of women pilots but none of them is Urvisha Jariwala.
Ever since news of the air strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed's terror camps in Pakistan broke on Tuesday, a few social media posts went viral claiming that a woman pilot named Urvisha Jariwala was part of the Indian Air Force (IAF) team that conducted the operation.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that none of these pictures is of Urvisha Jariwala.
Following the destruction of the biggest JeM camp in Balakot, a sense of euphoria prevailed on social media that was flooded with congratulatory posts.
A few such messages claim that an Indian woman pilot from Surat was part of this exercise. One such post says: "hawai hamle ki pilot Surat ki #Urvisha_Jariwala bhi thi (Urvisha Jariwala from Surat was one of the pilots who carried out air strikes)."
Another similar post states, "Suratwasiyo_ke_liye_gaurav_ki_khabar hawai hamle ki pilot Surat ki Urvisha Jariwala thi (Proud news for people of Surat. Air strike pilot was Urvisha Jariwala)."
One such Facebook post can be seen here
When we reverse-searched both these posts, we found that none of the pictures are of Urvisha Jariwala.
The picture is of a UAE pilot, Major Mariam Al Mansauri.
The New York Times reported about her on September 25, 2014.
Similarly, the other picture is of Squadron Leader Sneha Shekhawat.
Shekhawat became the first woman to lead an IAF contingent during a Republic Day parade. It was reported by rediff.com on February 2, 2015.
In most of the top-secret operations conducted by defence forces, names of those who take part in such exercise are always withheld. In Tuesday's operation too, the names were not declared. Hence, the names of the pilots doing the rounds on social media have nothing to do with the recent air strikes on Pakistan.
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