Indian Air Force (IAF’s) fighter jet on Friday mistakenly dropped a non-explosive aerial store significantly damaging a house in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district.
Widespread panic occurred among residents of the Shivpuri area as initially people reported a “mysterious ball-like object” falling from sky.
The reason behind the panic is also due to the tense and contentious relations between Pakistan and India following an attack on civilians in Indian Occupied Kashmir on April 22.
The incident caused a loud explosion and a massive cloud of dust as a result of hitting a house which damaged it significantly.
A part of roof and front gate of the house was completely damaged in the incident, while surrounding houses also sustained damages.
While the incident did not cause any human casualties, the payload that fell to the residential area caused a 10-foot-deep crater.
Indian Air Force’s official account on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed the incident that was caused by its aircraft, writing, “The IAF regrets the damage caused today to property on ground, near Shivpuri, by the inadvertent drop of a non-explosive aerial store from an IAF aircraft, and has instituted an inquiry into the incident.”
The IAF acknowledged its mistake expressing regret for the damage caused while also announcing the starting of an official inquiry.
It merits a mention that during the 2019 Pakistan-India standoff, an Indian Mi-17 helicopter was brought down by friendly fire in which all IAF airmen on board were killed, including Squadron Leaders Siddharth Vashisht and Ninad Mandavgan.
While Pakistan Army repeatedly proved the Indian propaganda as false and incorrect, the Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief RKS Bahaduria acknowledged IAF’s failure only a year latter on 4 October 2019, terming friendly fire as “a big mistake.”
Read more: Modi govt’s Pahalgam claim falls apart as FIR tells a different story
