LAHORE, AUG 20 (DNA) – The 46th martyrdom anniversary of Pakistan’s national hero, Rashid Minhas Shaheed, is being marked across the country.

Minhas was taxiing toward the runway on a routine training flight when an instructor pilot, Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman, forced him to stop and seized the control of the jet. The aircraft was then took off and turned toward India.

Pilot Officer received message from PAF Base Masroor that he was being hijacked after which he tried to regain control of the plane but failed to do so.

Minhas managed to damage the control of the jet and crashed it some 32 miles (51 km) from the Indian border, near Thatta. The incident martyred Pakistani valiant officer and killed the instructor.

Born on February 17, 1951 in Karachi, Rashid Minhas had his early education from St Mary’s Cambridge School Rawalpindi. He was commissioned as Pilot Officer in Pakistan Air Force in 1971.