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MEA assured us of their safety, says Gaurav Bansal

Bansal has been representing several families and helping them liaises with the government

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Four years ago on June 6, 2014 the world ended for families of 39 Indians who were abducted by the banned terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Mosul, Iraq. Living on a prayer, the last sliver of hope died on Tuesday morning when Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj confirmed the deaths of 39 captive Indians.

"We have been in constant touch with the Minister of External Affairs who assured us that the 39 Indians who were captive there were safe," advocate Gaurav Bansal said speaking to DNA.

Bansal has been representing several families and helping them liaises with the government. "We sent several representations to the MEA and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), and we were repeatedly assured that the men were safe and in some jail," he added.

In a September 26, 2016 dated letter, the MEA informed Gurpinder Kaur — her brother was one of the captive Indians — that Swaraj was monitoring the situation carefully, and that in light of the situation, the Iraqi camp Erbil was upgraded to the level of Consulate General of India. The letter went on to remind Kaur that Swaraj had met the family member of the captive Indians nine times since the situation broke out and was keeping them updated regularly.

In an attempt to get answers from the External Affairs Ministry, Bansal even filed an RTI seeking a methodology or a set of guidelines to be followed in such a scenario. In response to the RTI, the MEA had said that no such guidelines existed.

"The Ministry had asked the families for DNA samples, however, the family members were urged not to reveal this bit of information to the public," Bansal said.

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