India confirms 39 workers abducted in Iraq in 2015 dead

ONI Bureau:  The 39 Indians, who were abducted in 2014 by the Islamic State (ISIS) group have been found in a mass grave in Badosh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in Parliament on Tuesday.

The bodies were found where deep penetration radar was used to establish the presence of bodies below a mound. The DNA testing has confirmed the identity of 38 Indians and the 39th person’s DNA has a match of 70% she added. Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh will be flying to Iraq to bring back the bodies on a special flight, the EAM Minister said.

The lone Indian, who had escaped then, had confirmed that 39 other Indians taken hostage by ISIS in Iraq’s Mosul in June 2014, were killed. The Govt did not believe him and had for years insisted they were believed still alive.

The victims were mostly from poor families in India’s northern state of Punjab and had been working for a construction company in Mosul. As per report, around 10,000 Indians worked and lived in Iraq at that time.