On August 17 1988, three Indian Jaguars were patrolling between Gharsana and Padampur in India on the western border with Pakistan, when at 3:47 PM the group was informed by ATC Sri Ganganagar that a previously identified key military plane was taking off from the military air base outside of Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
On receipt of this information the team leader, Sri Madan Mohan Malviya, who knew that Pakistani traffic could eavesdrop on Indian communications on certain frequencies, decided to create a mock attack sequence 'aimed' at the Pakistani VIP carrier.
The following is the recorded conversation between the Indian pilot and ground control, and also Pakistan ATC:
Pilot (3:48 PM) "Charlie SG 2 (code for the Sri Ganganagar ATC) I am manoeuvring for attack on VIP 1 off B-base (Indian code for Bahawalpur, known to Pakistani authorities)."
" Indian Ground control (3:49 PM): "Godse -1 (code for pilot leader), prepare attack pattern and fire at will. VIP-1 is Red Hero (Indian code for the Hercules C-130b)"
"Pilot (3:50 PM, shouting) "Charlie SG 2...team has released missiles... converging on target!!!"
" Pakistani Ground control (3:49 PM): "Pak 1, Break left, go! go!"
At 3:51 PM Hercules C-130b carrying Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was seen lurching up and down in the Bahawalpur skies, as if trying to evade missiles. Soon it exploded into a ball of fire. It can now be revealed that an Indian flight team took advantage of a window of opportunity to scare the Pakistani ATC and pilot of General Zia's plane to score a 'direct hit'.