39 Indians missing in Iraq since ’14 dead
DNA TEST CONFIRMS DEATH OF 39 INDIAN WORKERS MISSING IN IRAQ, SAYS SWARAJ
new delhi — India said on Tuesday that 39 Indians, who were kidnapped by Daesh militants in Iraq in 2014, had been confirmed dead after their bodies were found and DNA samples matched.
The bodies were recovered from a mound in Badush, in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which was freed from Daesh last July. DNA tests had confirmed the bodies to be those of the construction workers who went missing from Mosul, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said.
“With full proof I can say these 39 are dead,” Swaraj told parliament. The government had for years said it would only declare the men dead once it had full evidence.
Swaraj said authorities in Baghdad helped identify the mound in Badush, about 420km from the capital Baghdad, and with the help of deep penetration radar, the buried bodies were discovered and exhumed. DNA testing provided matches for 38 of the missing men while one was a 70 per cent match, Swaraj said, as his parents were both dead and the DNA sample of next of kin was provided.
“We recovered ID cards, long hair, kada and some non-Iraqi footwear,” Swaraj said. —
Shattered at the heartwrenching news ... that the 39 Indians missing in Iraq, most of whom were Punjabis, are dead Amarinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister
All the 39 Indians abducted by Daesh in Mosul, Iraq, three years ago are dead and their bodies have been recovered, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.
While it was not immediately known when the Indians were killed, their bodies were recovered from Badosh — a village in northwest of Mosul, and their identities established through DNA testing, she said making a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha.
The mortal remains, which were exhumed from a mass grave in Badosh, will be brought back to India on a special plane and handed over to their relatives, she said.
“I had said that I will not declare anyone dead without substantive proof... today I have come to fulfil that commitment,” she said.
“I had said that closure will be done with full proof. And when we will, with a heavy heart, give the mortal remains to their kin, it will be a kind of closure.”
A group of 40 Indian workers, mostly from Punjab, and some Bangladeshi were taken hostage by Daesh when it overran Iraq’s second largest city Mosul in 2014.
Relentless search for the Indians led to a mass grave in Badosh, where deep penetration radar was used to establish the presence of bodies below a mound. The bodies, which were exhumed with help from Iraqi authorities, had distinctive features like long hair, kada, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs.
The bodies were sent to Baghdad for DNA testing.
The government was told on Monday that the DNA of 38 Indians matched with the remains of bodies found. One body was a 70 per cent match, she said.
Swaraj said she has previously maintained that the abducted Indians would not be declared dead without substantive proof. Now, there is proof, she said. Giving details, she said when Daesh overan Mosul, most Iraqis left the city but Indian and Bangladeshi workers stayed back.
Inquiries from a caterer revealed that Daesh caught them when they were coming back after meals. They were first taken to a textile factory where Bangladeshi workers were separated and sent to the city of Erbil. The caterer stated that he had received a call from one ‘Ali’ who claimed that he is from Bangladesh and should be moved to Erbil as commanded by Daesh, she said, adding Masih had called her up from Erbil but could not say how he had reached there.
“He had escaped by faking as Ali in the van arranged by caterer” to transport Bangladeshi to Erbil, she said. When next day, a count of Indians found one of them missing, they all were moved to Badosh. — PTI