Always said they were killed, says lone survivor Harjit Masih

As Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj Tuesday confirmed 39 Indians missing in Iraq since 2014 had been killed by IS, she reiterated that Masih had lied and called his version a “cock and bull story”.

In a statement to the Rajya Sabha Tuesday, Swaraj said Masih posed as Ali from Bangladesh to escape with a group of Bangladeshi men, who were separated from the Indians. Swaraj said the government had learnt this after speaking to the factory owner, where the Indians worked, and a caterer, where the men ate meals.

According to her, the caterer had said he had dropped the Bangladeshi men and Masih in his van to the Erbil border in northern Iraq from where Masih spoke to her. She said Masih could not give her a satisfactory answer when he was asked how he reached Erbil.

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Masih, however, told The Indian Express that he had told IS militants his name was Ali at another location where he was taken after his escape and after the 39 Indians were shot. He claimed he was handed over to another group of militants, who eventually let him go.

Following Swaraj’s statement, he said, “I have been saying from day one that they were killed. I said this to the government when they kept me in custody for one year. I think the government knew about the deaths, but due to political reasons, they did not go public with it. Even the Bangladeshi men had confirmed they were separated from the group of Indians,” he said.

A case was registered against Masih and his relative Rajbir — the agent who is said to have sent men to Iraq — on March 30, 2016, on a complaint by Gurpinder Kaur, the sister of one of the missing men Manjinder Singh. The case of cheating and human trafficking was registered on directions from the MEA. “Since the government has admitted that the men are dead, the case against me should be withdrawn,” Masih said.

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Swaraj said, “I have two (pieces of) information. First, Harjit Masih who escaped was lying and, second, the Indians are dead. And I have proof of this.”

Masih’s counsel Munish Kumar said, “We have argued that since Harjit was working in Mosul as a labourer, there was no ground to book him in cases for alleged offences cheating, human trafficking etc.”