While the armed conflict between India and Pakistan was at its peak, several Pakistani media outlets and social media users claimed that Indian pilot squadron leader Shivangi Singh was captured by the Pakistan Air Force after she had ejected from an Indian fighter jet shot down by the Pakistani Air Force.
Pakistan-based media organisation Exact Press International shared a picture of Shivangi Singh on its official X handle and claimed that Indian Air Force pilot Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh had been captured. (Archived link)
British influencer Sulaiman Ahmed, who describes himself as an investigative journalist and political commentator, shared two images claiming that two Indian pilots had been captured by Pakistan. (Archived link)
Pakistani X user Wahab Khan posted two separate tweets claiming that Indian pilot Shivangi Singh had been captured by Pakistani authorities. (Archived link 1, link 2)
X user Bilal Khan and Abdullah Mumtaz Kahloon also shared tweets making similar claims. (Archived link 1, link 2)
Bilal Khan and Abdullah Mumtaz Kahloon also tweeted the image with similar claims. (Archived Links 1, 2)
A number of Pakistani social media handles, including @AirlinePilotmax, @MerruX, @MonitorX99800, @Tani_1k, and @DaniBha28233791 also amplified this claim.
Fact Check
First of all, the two photos that have gone viral with these claims are of two different persons, both named Shivangi. One is Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Shivangi Singh, who is the first Indian woman to fly Rafale jets. The other one is Indian Navy pilot Shivangi, who hails from Muzaffarpur, Bihar. She was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2018.
Alt News performed a keyword search to investigate the claim. However, we could not find any official information from the IAF or Indian Navy or the Pakistani Army regarding any incident similar to the one mentioned in the viral claims. Had something like this actually occurred, there would have been widespread media coverage of it.
The fact check unit of the PIB, which acts as a nodal agency for the Government of India, has issued a statement refuting this claim. It reads, “Pro-Pakistan social media handles are claiming that Indian female Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Shivani Singh has been captured in Pakistan, this claim is fake.” (Archived link)
Indian Female Air Force pilot has NOT been captured🚨
Pro-Pakistan social media handles claim that an Indian Female Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Shivani Singh, has been captured in Pakistan.#PIBFactCheck
❌ This claim is FAKE!#IndiaFightsPropaganda@MIB_India… pic.twitter.com/V8zovpSRYk
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 10, 2025
To sum up, the viral claim regarding Pakistan capturing Indian pilot Shivangi Singh is baseless. Photos of two different persons of that name — IAF pilot Shivangi Singh and Indian Navy pilot SHivangi Singh — are falsely viral.
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