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| - Fact Check: How Abhinandan Varthaman's medical leave was twisted on social media
India Today's Anti-Fake News War Room found Abhinandan is very much still a part of IAF and is on sick leave for four weeks.
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India Today Fact Check
The claim is completely false as Abhinandan is very much a part of IAF and is on a four week-long sick leave.
Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's heroic act after his capture by Pakistan a month ago has won many hearts. But that hasn't spared him from being a target of fake news generators. A viral Facebook post claims that Abhinandan was fired from service the day his father joined Congress.
India Today's Anti-Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim is completely false. Abhinandan is very much a part of IAF and is on sick leave for four weeks.
The archived version of the post can be seen here. A Facebook page 'I Hate BJP' in Hindi posted, "Subah Wing Commander Abhinandan ke pita Congress mein shamil hue, shaam ko Abhinandan ko vayu sena se nikala, jawab nahi bhakton ki deshbhakti ka. (In the morning, Wing Commander Abhinandan's father joined Congress, and in the evening, he was fired from the Air Force)."
At the time this story was filed, the post was already shared by more than 1,400 users. The page is being followed by more than 40,000 users.
Facebook users 'Abhay Dubey' and 'Atul Gupta' were among some who also posted similar claims.
To verify the same, India Today contacted Group Captain Anupam Banerjee who serves as the official IAF spokesperson. Banerjee told India Today that Abhinandan is still serving with the force and is on sick leave for four weeks at the moment. He is in Srinagar.
A day after IAF jets struck Balakot in Pakistan, the neighbouring country too sent fighter planes to India on February 27. While chasing Pakistani jets away, Abhinandan's MiG21 crossed the LoC and was shot down. He was captured by Pakistan and returned to India after two days.
Abhinandan underwent medical examinations and completed a two-week long debriefing before going on sick leave. Last week, many prominent media houses also reported about his sick leave.
We could also not find any such report of Abhinandan's father, retired Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman, joining Congress. Neither did the Congress release any official statement about it, nor has Varthaman himself announced the news. However, India Today could not independently verify the claim.
Claims of Abhinandan's father joining Congress was doing the rounds on social media earlier as well. Fact checker Boomlive debunked the claim.
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