New Delhi, March 21: The government on Tuesday announced that the 39 Indian workers who were abducted by ISIS in Mosul, have been killed and their bodies will be brought back to India. However, MEA sources on Wednesday informed that no bodies will reach India on Wednesday “We will share as and when details are worked out” MEA Sources were quoted by ANI.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in her statement in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, informed that all the 39 Indians abducted in Mosul three years ago are dead and their bodies have been recovered. Swaraj informed that the bodies were recovered from Badosh - a village in the northwest of Mosul, and their identities established through DNA testing. The Minister further added that the mortal remains, which were exhumed from a mass grave in Badosh, will be brought back to India on a special plane and handed over to their relatives.

Swaraj could not make a statement in the Lok Sabha because of an uproar from the Congress. Defending herself against a barrage of criticism, Swaraj blamed the Congress of indulging in "cheap politics” and claimed that she did not keep anyone in the dark over the killing of 39 Indians in captivity in Iraq or give the families "false hopes". Taking an indirect dig at the Congress, she said there were governments that would interpret missing persons as "believed to be killed". Swaraj said she had kept her word that she would declare them dead if she gets conclusive proof.

The External Affairs Minister addressed a press conference later in the day and said 27 of the 39 were from Punjab, six from Bihar, four from Himachal Pradesh and two from West Bengal.

To recall, as many as 40 Indians were abducted by the terrorist organisation in 2014 but one of them escaped by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh, Swaraj said. The Minister said that the DNA samples of 38 people had been matched by the Iraqi authorities. In the case of the 39th person, the matching was 70 per cent.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 21, 2018 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).