External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said that a television channel suggesting that 40 Indians who went missing in Iraq in June had been killed by the Islamic State militants were untrue and unfounded. She assured that the government is actively involved in locating them.
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"We were in direct contact of every country and every possible source that could inform us about the whereabouts of those Indian nationals. As a result of which, we found out six sources, who claim that those Indian nationals are alive. As External Affairs Minister, it is my responsibility to continue with the search on the basis of statements of these six sources," Swaraj told members of the Rajya Sabha today.
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She said that she was aware that there many reports out in the public domain suggesting that the missing Indians had been killed.
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"We aren't trusting these reports, the government continues with the search of those Indian nationals who were abducted in Iraq," she added.
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The External Affairs Minister, however, admitted that there was no proof of whether the missing Indians were dead or alive.
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"I don't have proof about whether they are dead or alive, but we are trying to find out their whereabouts. Please don't say they are dead...you could say missing or at the most 'reported dead', we have sources who say they are alive," Swaraj said.
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She also explained that Harjit, an abducted Indian national who was able to escape, was under the government's protection.
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"Harjit is under the government's protection as his life is in danger, I can assure you he is safe," Swaraj added
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A private news channel had claimed that 40 Indians taken hostage by IS earlier this year in Erbil in Iraq had been killed.
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The Indians worked with a construction company in Baghdad and were kidnapped after Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, fell to the Islamic State.
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