Mortal remains of 2 Indians, among 39 killed in Iraq, consigned to flames in Nawanshahr

Mortal remains of two Indians, who were among 39 killed in Iraq, were consigned to flames at their native villages in this district.

The remains of Parvinder Kumar of Jagatpur and Jasvir Singh of Mehandpur, both in Balachaur area, had arrived late evening yesterday.

The mortal remains of 38 out of 39 Indians killed by ISIS in war-torn Iraq were yesterday brought back in a special aircraft at the Amritsar airport.

Kumar was working as a carpenter in Mosul in Iraq at the time of his abduction in June 2014.

His six-year-old son Jaskaran lit the pyre. Kumar is survived by his father Jeet Ram, mother Krishna Devi, wife Anju and brother Gurdeep Singh.

Balachaur MLA Darshan Lal Mangupur, SSP Satinder Singh, SDM Jagjit Singh, besides villagers in large number, were among those who attended his last rites.

In Mehandpur village, falling in Saroya block in Balachaur tehsil, Jasvir Singh's brother Bhupinder Singh lit the pyre.

Jasvir Singh was just 24 when he went missing in Iraq. He used to work in a construction company there.

Local MLA Mangupur and senior officials were also present.

Mangupur assured that besides arranging a government job for one member each of both the families, a financial relief of Rs five lakh as announced by Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu yesterday in Amritsar, would soon be given to them.

Meanwhile, the mortal remains of Kamaljit Singh of village Chhauni Kalan in Hoshiarpur district were also consigned to flames today at his village cremation ground. Prem Singh, father of the deceased, lit the pyre.

BJP leader Avinash Rai Khanna and MLA Sunder Sham Arora were among those who paid tributes to the departed soul.

Kamaljit Singh is survived by wife Harwinder Kaur, a son and a daughter.

A special aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 38 Indians, including majority 27 from Punjab, landed at the Amritsar international airport from Baghdad yesterday.

The mortal remains of most of the dead were consigned to flames at their respective places, including Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Phagwara yesterday evening.

Earlier this month, Swaraj had told Parliament that as many as 40 Indians were abducted by terror group ISIS from Mosul in Iraq in June 2014, but one of them escaped posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh.

The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badush and killed, she had said.