NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday confirmed that thirty-nine Indians who were missing in Iraq's Mosul since 2014, have been killed by terrorist outfit Islamic State. ''Out of the 40, who were kidnapped, one person managed to escape, while others were confirmed dead after DNA samples of their relatives matched from the bodies exhumed from a mound,'' Swaraj said in Parliament.


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She said that the mortal remains of the victims were sent to Baghdad. For verification of bodies, the DNA samples of their relatives were sent there and four state governments - Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar - were involved in this. Union Minister General (retd) VK Singh will now go to Iraq to bring back the mortal remains of the 39 Indians.


Of the 39, 27 belong to Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, two from West Bengal and six from Bihar. Here is the full list of the victims.


S. No. Name State
1 Dharminder Kumar Punjab
2 Harish Kumar Punjab
3 Harsimranjeet Singh Punjab
4 Kanwal Jit 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 Inderjeet 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)

The family members of the victims are now demanding proofs of the identification of the victims. "My brother went to Iraq in 2012 where he worked as a carpenter. We had been asking MEA for proof of him being alive or dead. We demand that reports of the DNA test be given to us," said Malkit Ram, brother of a Saganandlal who was among the 39 Indians killed in Mosul.


The family of 46-year-old Gobinder Singh also raised similar demands. "The government should share the DNA reports with us and also get the DNA test conducted once again in India so that we can be sure that the body handed over to us is that of my brother," he said.


Several relatives of slain workers said they were not officially informed about their loved ones by any government authority. "What do we say now? The government kept us in the dark all these years. Now after four years, they are making such a shocking statement," asked a dejected Sarwan whose 31-year-old brother Nishan was among those killed.