39 Indians abducted by ISIS in Iraq are dead, Sushma Swaraj tells Rajya Sabha

Harjit Masih had miraculously returned to India after escaping from the militant group's clutches in Iraq.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: Thirty nine Indians that went missing in Iraq in 2014 are dead, informed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Rajya Sabha. The 40 Indian nationals along with around a dozen Bangladeshi workers were employed by a construction company in Baghdad. They were abducted by ISIS in Mosul. The Bangladeshi lot were set free after a brief period for being Muslims. Sushma said the confirmation of deaths to her ministry was given by Martyrs' Foundation which conducted the DNA tests of the bodies. She said the mass grave had exactly 39 bodies, with distinctive features like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. "Their bodies were spotted using deep penetration radar from a mount in Badoosh. The bodies were then sent to Baghdad for DNA testing. The bodies were exhumed from mass graves and their identities confirmed by DNA tests. DNA testing by Martyrs Foundation has established identity of 38 Indians while there has been 70 per cent matching of the DNA for the 39th person," she said. The minister said thirty one nationals belonged to Punjab, four were from Himachal Pradesh, while the rest were from Bihar and West Bengal. The bodied will be handed over to their respective families so that final rites can be conducted.

"We lived in a hope for 4 years that he will be safe and alive, but now the death of his news has left us shattered. We have nothing left," said Devinder, brother of deceased Guvinder.

39 Indians — ABP News (@abpnewstv) March 20, 2018

Gurpinder Singh, whose relative Manjinder, was among the 39 dead told ABP News in a telephonic conversation that the government did not inform her family about the death.

Sushma Swarajji informed the Rajya Sabha first but did not bother to inform us about his death. Our DNA samples were taken in November last year: Gurpinder Kaur, relative of deceased Manjinder Singh.

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) March 20, 2018

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh will be travelling to Iraq to bring back bodies of Indians.

We never wanted to declare 39 Indians were dead without having credible evidence. With the help of a radar the bodies were found & exhumed. It might take a week's time to bring back the bodies through an Indian Air Force flight: @Gen_VKSingh , MoS for External Affairs to ABP News

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) March 20, 2018

Today's revelation by Sushma gave validation to ABP News' reportage from Kurdistan’s capital Erbil in 2014 where two Bangladeshi workers had claimed all Indians in their camp were mass executed by ISIS militants. READ: Story of 39 Indians killed by ISIS in Mosul as told by two Bangladeshi workers to ABP News in 2014 The Bangladeshis quoted Harjit Masih who was the 40th Indian worker and had witnessed the killings from his eyes. Masih had returned to India in 2015 after miraculously escaping from the militant group's clutches. He was brought to India after he got in touch with the Indian consulate. READ: 39 Indians dead in Mosul: Harsimrat Kaur Badal says deeply shocked to hear from Sushma Swaraj Sushma, however, then kept on refusing to accept the Indians were killed.  She said it was a sin to assume someone was dead without proof.“The files of those missing or believed to be killed cannot be closed until they are proven dead,” Swaraj told Parliament in July, 2017. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor today questioned the government why did it not believe Harjit Masih's claims. "When one man (Harjit Masih) kept on saying they are dead, why didn't the government believe him and what did it do for the last three and a half years. This is very disappointing," Tharoor told reporters.