Journalism of Courage
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Parliament on Tuesday announced that all the 39 Indians abducted by the Islamic State in Mosul in Iraq three years ago are dead and their bodies have been recovered. Their identities were established through DNA testing and their bodies recovered from a village called Badosh- northwest of Mosul, she said, adding that it was not immediately known when the Indians were killed. Ranjit Singh was amongst those who lost their lives in Iraq. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Parents of Ranjit Singh mourn the loss in Babowal village, Punjab. The mortal remains, which were exhumed from a mass grave in Badosh, will be brought back to India on a special plane and handed over to their relatives, she said. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Among the 39 Indians who were missing, most were from different places in Punjab like Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Jalandhar, while a few belonged to Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Family membesr of deceased Kulwinder Singh at Khanke Villege Jalandhar, Kulwinder Singh one of the 39 Indians killed in Iraq. A group of 40 Indian workers, mostly from Punjab, and some Bangladeshi were taken hostage by ISIS when it overran Iraq’s second largest city Mosul in 2014. Of the 40 Indians, one Harjit Masih from Gurdaspur had managed to escape.(Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Harjit Masih, the lone survivor who had managed to flee the ISIS following his abduction along with 39 other Indians in Iraq in 2014, today asked the government to withdraw a case of human trafficking registered against him by the Punjab police. He alleged that the government knew about the deaths of the 39 Indians in Iraq but did not tell the public due to political reasons. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Family of Manjinder Singh, one of the deceased, mourn the loss at their village Bhoewal in Amritsar. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Manjinder Singh was amongst those who lost their lives in Iraq in 2014. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Jatinder Singh's Mother Ranjit Kaur at her house in village Sialka. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Jatinder Singh was amongst those who lost their lives in Iraq in 2014. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
Gurcharan Singh was amongst those who lost their lives in Iraq in 2014. (Express Photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)
