Central govt trying to locate Punjabi hostages in Iraq: Badal

The Punjab government on Friday said that the Centre was making all efforts to locate the whereabouts 39 Indian men who had been held hostage for nearly a year by the ISIS in Iraq.

A day after one of the escapee among the 40 Indian men held hostage by militants created furore by claiming that all 39 had been killed, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said, the Centre was making strenuous efforts to locate the whereabouts of the Punjabis trapped in Iraq. “The state government is in constant touch with the Centre to know the details of the sons of the soil trapped in Iraq,” he said.

Terming that it was unfortunate that all these men have not come back till now, Badal said, the state government and the Centre were leaving no stone unturned to ensure their safe release.

He said he had taken up the issue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Reiterating the state government’s commitment to extend a helping hand to the distressed families, the CM said he had already directed the state government officers to ensure that the families of the youths were given financial assistance on time. He said that the state government was duty bound to help these distressed families in this hour of grave crisis.