Three men from Punjab, who had left for Australia on the promise of jobs by travel agents but found themselves in Iran and were later “kidnapped” there, have been rescued, the Embassy of India in Iran Wednesday said. “The three kidnapped Indian citizens have been safely rescued & are now under the care of the Embassy of India, which is facilitating their early repatriation. We sincerely thank the Government of Iran for their swift and effective efforts in securing their release. Your support reflects the true spirit of friendship between our two nations,” the Embassy of India in Iran posted on X. Amritpal Singh (23) from Bhagowal village in Hoshiarpur, Husanpreet Singh (27) of Dhuri in Sangrur and Jaspal Singh (32) of Langroya in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar — all in Punjab — were “freed in a police operation against the hostage takers in Varamin in south Tehran,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported Tuesday. All three had left for Australia in April with work visas after being promised lucrative jobs there by the travel agents back home in Punjab. They ended up in Iran where they were allegedly kidnapped by a network of travel agents from Pakistan who then demanded a ransom of Rs 18 lakh each for their release. The respective families received phone calls from the three men Tuesday evening, soon after the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, citing local media in Iran, said that the “missing Indian citizens have been freed by Tehran police”. Husanpreet’s cousin Manpreet Singh told the Indian Express that he received a call from an Iranian number at around 6 pm Tuesday. “It was Husanpreet. He only said, ‘We are safe now. Indian authorities have rescued us and we are now being taken to the embassy’. Before I could ask anything, the line went dead. Now, at least we know that he is alive,” said Manpreet.
