No, IAF Pilot Shivangi Singh Has Not Been Captured In Pakistan

A video and an image are viral making the false claim that Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh was captured by Pakistan, amidst escalated military tensions between India and its neighbour.

The false claim is being supported with a photo of an injured IAF pilot from a July 2023 plane crash in Karnataka and an unrelated old video from Himachal Pradesh.

Squadron Leader Singh serves with the IAF's elite Golden Arrows Squadron, based in Punjab and recently gained the title of the first Indian woman to fly the French-made Rafale fighter jet

BOOM reached out to an IAF spokesperson who confirmed that the claim is false and that Singh had not been captured in Pakistan.

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CLAIM 1 - Photo Of An Injured Pilot From A July 2023 IAF Crash

The photo is viral on X with the caption, 'Latest photo of the Indian female pilot captured by Pakistan', with some users identifying her as IAF officer Shivangi Singh. Click here to view

BOOM found that the viral photo is from June 2023 when a trainer jet crashed in Chamarajanagar, Karnataka injuring two pilots, Wing Commander Tejpal and flight cadet, Bhoomika. News reports carried the same viral photo and identified her as cadet Bhoomika who was flying a Kiran Jet trainer aircraft with Tejpal, and managed to eject out safely before it crashed. The same photos can be seen in a local newspaper Star of Mysore.

Also Read:Viral Accounts of Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, Col Qureshi Are Parody

CLAIM 2 - Viral Video Claims IAF Shivangi Singh Got Stuck In Trees After Crashing

A reverse image search of video keyframes showed the same video uploaded to YouTube on March 19, 2025, identifying the location as Manali, Himachal Pradesh. This shows that the video has existed on the internet before May 7, 2025 when the military escalation between India and Pakistan started.

The IAF spokesperson also called out the claim as fake, confirming to BOOM that Singh had not been captured in or by Pakistan.

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