Complete list of 39 Indians killed in Iraq's Mosul
Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday confirmed 39 Indians abducted by ISIS from Mosul in Iraq four years back have been killed. The External Affairs Minister gave the information in the Rajya Sabha. Of the 39 deceased, 27 are from Punjab, six are from Bihar, four from Himachal Pradesh and two from West Bengal.
"Deep penetration radar confirmed that all Indians were dead after all bodies were exhumed," Swaraj said.
"Mortal remains were sent to Baghdad for verification of bodies. DNA samples of relatives were sent to Iraq in which four state governments - Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar were involved," Swaraj said.
Swaraj said the mass grave had exactly 39 bodies, with distinctive features like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. DNA testing by Martyrs Foundation has established identity of 38 Indians while there has been 70 per cent matching of the DNA for the 39th person, she said.
In December 2017, India had completed the DNA testing of the families of 39 Indians missing from Iraq's Mosul city since 2014 and forwarded the samples to Iraqi authorities for matching with the mortal remains in the graves there. Last year, Swaraj had rejected allegations that she misled the country on the issue and said the government will continue its efforts to trace them until getting evidence of their death.
"This file will not close till there is proof that the 39 Indians are dead," she said, adding Vietnam still looks for soldiers who went missing or believed to be killed in the Vietnam war. Earlier, the Iraqi foreign minister had said that they do not have concrete information whether they are alive or not.
Here is the list of the deceased:
1. Dharminder Kumar - Punjab
2. Harish Kumar - Punjab
3. Harsimranjeet Singh - Punjab
4. Kanwaljit Singh -Punjab
5. Malkit Singh - Punjab
6. Ranjit Singh - Punjab
7. Sonu - Punjab
8. Sandeep Kumar - Punjab
9. Manjinder Singh - Punjab
10. Gurcharan Singh - Punjab
11. Balwant Rai - Punjab
12. Roop Lal - Punjab
13. Devinder Singh - Punjab
14. Kulwinder Singh - Punjab
15. Jatinder Singh - Punjab
16. Nishan Singh - Punjab
17. Gurdeep Singh - Punjab
18. Kamaljit Singh - Punjab
19. Gobinder Singh - Punjab
20. Pritpal Sharma - Punjab
21. Sukhwinder Singh - Punjab
22. Jasvir Singh - Punjab
23. Parvinder Kumar - Punjab
24. Balvir Chand - Punjab
25. Surjeet Mainka - Punjab
26. Nand Lal - Punjab
27. Rakesh Kumar - Punjab
28. Aman Kumar - Himachal Pradesh
29. Sandeep Singh Rana - Himachal Pradesh
30. Inderjet - Himachal Pradesh
31. Hem Raj - Himachal Pradesh
32. Samar Tikadar - West Bengal
33. Khokhan Sikder - West Bengal
34. Santosh Kumar Singh - Bihar
35. Bidya Bhushan Tiwari - Bihar
36. Adalat Singh - Bihar
37. Sunil Kumar Kushwaha - Bihar
38. Dharmendra Kumar - Bihar
39. Raju Kumar Yadav - Bihar (to be verified).