Hours after the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made the statement about 39 Indians, who were abducted by ISIS, a sister of one of the victims has expressed the shock over their death.
Hours after the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made the statement about 39 Indians, who were abducted by ISIS, a sister of one of the victims has expressed the shock over their death.
Making a statement in Rajya Sabha, Swaraj said that all the 39 Indians were killed and their bodies have been recovered.
"For past four years External Affairs Minister was telling that they were alive. Don't know what to believe anymore. I am waiting to speak with her (Sushma Swaraj)," said Gurpinder Kaur, sister of Manjinder Singh who was among 39 Indians killed in Iraq.
She also said that no information was given to them and she heard her statement she made in Parliament.
As many as 40 Indians were originally abducted by terrorist organisation ISIS in June 2015 from Mosul in Iraq but one of them escaped by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh.
Swaraj said the mass grave had exactly 39 bodies, with distinctive features like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. The bodies were then sent to Baghdad for DNA testing.
DNA testing by Martyrs Foundation has established identity of 38 Indians while there has been 70% matching of the DNA for the 39th person, she said.
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh will be flying to Iraq to bring back the bodies on a special flight.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said, "Shattered at the heart-wrenching news from @SushmaSwaraj that the 39 Indians missing in Iraq, most of whom were Punjabis, are dead. My heart goes out to the families who had been living in hope since their reported abduction by ISIS in 2014. Prayers with all of them."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed shock.
"Deeply saddened and shocked with the very sad news from #Mosul. Words are not enough to console the 39 grieving families. Our thoughts and prayers with them", she said in a tweet
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