(Image source from: tosshub.com)

Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman  has been handed over to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, after completion of the process will cross Attari-Wagah joint check-post at around 3-4 pm today.

The IAF pilot has been released by Pakistan as a “gesture of peace”,announcement came from Pakistan Prime Imran Khan.

He will be coming home two days after he was captured across the Line of Control after shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet.

Large number of people reached the Attari border in Amritsar to receive Wing Commander Varthaman. People carrying tricolour, garlands and posters to the Attari-Wagah joint check post, where Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman will be released by Pakistani Officials.

IANS reported that people started to gather from morning 6 am numbers increased after the news of his release at Wagah spread.

“We have come here to welcome our country’s hero back home. We will give him a grand welcome. He showed a lot of bravery in the air combat and even after being captured by the Pakistanis,” Jitender, a resident of Amritsar who arrived here with his friends at Wagah told IANS.

Meanwhile in a petition has been filed in Islamabad High Court to stop the imminent release of the captured Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinanadan Varthaman, saying he committed crime against the country and should be put on trial in Islamabad, reported news agency PTI.

-Sai Kumar