after the third war with india in 1971, the air force held the navy responsible for the friendly fire incident took place on the pns "zulfiqar (k265)", and identified cdre. a. w. bhombal as a responsible for giving clearance to the air force, which had little experience in conducting the maritime reconnaissance, for attacking his own warship. in 1972, the navy reportedly accepted the air force's recommendation and took the disciplinary action when he was reportedly demoted from his one-star rank to captain, and was directed to attend the war studies, earning his msc in war studies in 1973, graduating in the class of 1973 alongside with then-lieutenant-colonel mirza aslam beg.