39 Indians Kidnapped by IS in Iraq's Mosul are Dead: Sushma Swaraj

The thirty-nine Indians, who had been kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) terror group in Iraq's Mosul in 2014, have been killed, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday. While speaking in Rajya Sabha, the minister said the mortal remains will be brought back to India by Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh.

“With full proof, I can say these 39 people are dead. We wanted to give the families closure only after concrete proof”, she said confirming the deaths.

However, the opposition accused the Centre of giving hope for the families of the deceased and misleading the nation. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad reminded the minister about her comment in which she had assured that the Indians were alive.

In June 2016, Sushma Swaraj had said that these 39 people were alive, dismissing reports about their killing. Again, in July 2017, the Minister herself had said in the parliament that there was no “evidence” to state that they were killed. “It is a sin, to declare a person dead, without concrete evidence. I will not do this sin,” Swaraj had said in her statement in the Parliament.

The deaths were confirmed on Monday that the DNA of 38 had matched the remains found and one body was a 70 percent match, the parliament was informed. She added the bodies were spotted by using deep penetration radar and were exhumed from mass graves.

"The bodies were brought to Baghdad for DNA testing. The DNAs of 38 Indians have been matched.”

"For verification of the bodies, DNA samples of their relatives were sent there. Four state governments -- Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar -- were involved in the process," the minister said.

The victims -- 31 from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh and four from Bihar and West Bengal -- were construction workers and were employed by an Iraqi company in Mosul. They were taken hostage when the IS took control of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. The workers were trying to leave Mosul when they were taken, hostage.

Though 40 Indians were kidnapped, one of them Harjit Masih from Punjab’s Gurdaspur had managed to escape. The escaped man Harjit claimed that he had seen his compatriots being executed. But the government had rejected it.

"For four years, the minister had told me that they were alive, I don't know what to believe anymore," said Gurpinder Kaur, sister of Manjinder Singh, one of the men killed in Iraq.

(With IANS input)