Kin of 39 missing Indians in Iraq asked to give DNA samples

In fresh efforts to determine the fate of 39 Indians kidnapped by the Islamic State in Mosul more than three years ago, the government has asked their families to submit DNA samples.

Iraqi authorities have urged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to ensure that DNA samples were collected from relatives of the missing Indians after numerous mass graves were found in areas of Iraq liberated from the IS.

"All of us have been asked to undergo DNA test; don't know why. We are very nervous," Gurpinder, the sister of Manjinder, who is one among the 39, told ANI.

The government continues to classify the 39 workers kidnapped by the IS in June 2014 as "missing". The government has also taken a position that as long as it doesn't have conclusive proof they are dead, it would like to believe they are alive.

Senior medical officer Sanjeev Bhalla said after orders were received from the deputy commissioner, three teams went to Tallianwal, Rupowali and Talwandi Jhuran villages to collect blood samples from relatives of Malkait Singh, Kamaljeet Singh and Dharminder, who are among the missing men.

In July, Swaraj said minister of state VK Singh, during his visit to Iraq, had been told the missing Indians were being held at Badush prison near Mosul. But Iraqi authorities subsequently said the prison had no inmates when the area was recaptured from the IS by pro-government troops.

In 2014, 39 Indian labourers, mostly from Punjab, were reportedly taken hostage by ISIS when it overran Iraq's second largest city of Mosul.

OneIndia