1971 Pak prison escape by three IAF pilots now a film

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, August 4

The daring escape by three Indian Air Force pilots from a Pakistani prison and their failed attempt to reach the Afghanistan border has been documented into a film.

‘The Great Indian Escape’ was screened at the IAF auditorium here today. Similar screenings are planned in Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, among other places. 

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Flight Lieutenants Dilip Parulkar, MS Grewal and Harish Singhji were among 12 pilots taken prisoners of war (PoWs) during the December 1971 India-Pakistan war and housed in a Rawalpindi prison. Though the war ended on December 16, repatriation formalities of the PoWs could not be completed even in two months. During the waiting period, the trio executed a well-planned escape from the jail and moved towards Torkham on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. 

Though disguised as local Pathans, they were captured twice, the last time a mere five miles short of their target. They were then sent to Faisalabad jail before being repatriated to a hero’s welcome through the Attari-Wagah land route. 

Taranjiet Singh Namdhari is the film’s director-producer while Asheesh Kapur plays the role of Flt Lt Harish Sinhji, who passed away in 1999. Grewal and Parulkar are alive and their roles have been played by Raaj Singh Grewal and Raghav Rishi.