PTI, AMRITSAR: There was no record of the 40 Indians captured by the terror group ISIS in Iraq in any embassy as they had gone there through illegal travel agents, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said today.
Thirty-nine of the 40 Indians were killed by the terror group, while one of them managed to escape posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh.
Singh today brought back the mortal remains of 38 Indians from Iraq in a special aircraft that landed at the Amritsar International airport here. The presumed remains of one of those killed were yet to be positively identified.
“The external affairs ministry started a campaign in 2014 in which we say that one must not go through an illegal agent. There was no record of these 40 persons in any embassy. They migrated through illegal agents. When you go through illegal agents then it is difficult to find where one has gone,” the minister told reporters.
The minister said that had the government had any information about these people being in danger, it could have tried to save them.
He emphasised that both the state and central governments should work collectively to ensure the gullible people do not fall prey to illegal travel agents.
“We have told each state that law and order is their responsibility and they should catch illegal agents in their respective states and take action against them…States and the Centre should work collectively in this direction. We do not want anybody to go illegally abroad. We want people to go legally so that we have their record,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the Amarinder Singh government in Punjab would take action against illegal travel agents while asserting that there was an “effective” government in Punjab.
To a question on jobs as demanded by the family members of the victims, the minister said that the union external affairs minister had already told family members of the victims to provide detailed information about persons who are eligible for jobs.
Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, flanked with Singh, said the state government would give Rs five lakh each to the family members of the victims.
Besides, a member of each family will be given job as per qualification, he said.
He further said that the state government had been giving Rs 20,000 per month to the family members of the victims who were killed in Iraq.
Sidhu said the cabinet will hold discussion on the illegal travel agents issue.
To a question, Singh said that the Iraq-based Martyrs Foundation had advised against opening of caskets.
