Iraqi jail where 39 Indians were ‘last seen’ lies in ruins

BADUSH, IRAQ: The prison near the Iraqi city of Mosul described by the Indian government as the last known location of 39 Indians kid-napped by the Islamic State three years ago is today a desolate and abandoned structure that has been unoccupied for weeks, if not months.

The roofless building, mostly turned into rubble, is located in an area riddled with landmines. Sleeper cells of the IS are still active in the region though fighting in Ba du sh village ended a few months ago, says Brig Abdul Amin Al Kazraji of the Golden Division, the elite US-trained Iraqi counter-terror force that has been leading the fight against Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s terror group. “I have no information about the abducted Indians but there is nothing at the prison anymore ,” he said.

This correspondent travelled to the prison in Badushina Humvee along with armed Iraqi soldiers. The vehicle made its way from Mosul, a city destroyed by the IS, to Badush. Near the prison, two soldiers walked ahead in the rough terrain int em- per at ur es of more than 50 degrees Celsius, looking for mines.

They stopped near the fallen pillars of what was once the boundary of the prison. The rubble of the structure could be seen at a distance of about 200 metres and the soldiers said it wasn’ t safe togo any further because of landmines. On July 16, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had said that information gathered by minister of state VK Singh during a recent visit to Iraq suggested the 39 Indians kidnapped in June 2014 were possibly being held in the Badush prison.