Agencies
Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh who departed from Iraq with the mortal remains of 38 Indians, has reached India today. A special flight carrying mortal remains landed at Amritsar International Airport on Monday afternoon around 2:30 pm from Baghdad. The dead bodies were received by the relatives of the deceased with teary eyes. An air of gloom descended as distraught families looked at the caskets when the aircraft carrying the coffins landed at the airport.
While announcing the ex-gratia compensation to the family of 27 Indians who were from Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu said that the compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each family will be given. Besides, a job for one person per family will also be provided, while the current pension of Rs 20,000 will continue, Singh added.
On Sunday, Singh had left for Iraq to bring back the mortal remains of 38 people who were killed in Mosul, Iraq. The 39th body is not being brought back now as the DNA testing had only provided a 70 percent match, The Indian Express reported. The others have an over 95 percent match.
Meanwhile addressing the media, VK Singh commented on whether the kin of the 38 Indians will be given jobs. He said that EAM had asked the families for the details of their members who can be given jobs etc, which they will review later.
A total of 40 Indians were abducted by the terror outfit Islamic State in Iraq in June 2014. After four years, on March 20, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj informed the Rajya Sabha members in the Parliament that the 39 Indian nationals, who went missing, were killed by ISIS.
Out of 40, Harjit Masih, managed to escape by posing as a Bangladeshi Muslim. The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed, Sushma Swaraj informed earlier in last month. Of the 39 who died, 27 hailed from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, while two were from West Bengal and six were from Bihar. These people were working on projects near Mosul when they got kidnapped, reported the Indian Express.
Navjot Singh Sidhu from Punjab will be present at the airport to receive the mortal remains, while Haryana and Himachal Pradesh governments have deputed Haryana Food and Civil Supplies minister Krishan Kapoor and Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, and Sandeep Kumar, respectively, to receive the dead bodies. |
