The mortal remains of 39 Indians killed by the ISIS after their abduction in 2014 in Iraq’s Mosul were brought back to India, at Amritsar on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Government on Monday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh and a Government job each to a family member of the 27 victims belonging to the State. However, Shiromani Akali Dal asked the the Punjab Government to raise the compensation to Rs 1 crore.

As the mortal remains of the Indians reached Amritsar’s Guru Ramdas International airport on Monday, an eerie silence filled the atmosphere with victims’ relatives standing there to receive the bodies.

The cremation will be held on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh reached Amritsar with the mortal remains from Iraq in the Indian Air Force plane at Amritsar airport where Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, along with the Union Minister and Punjab BJP president Vijay Sampla, received the mortal remains of 27 Punjabis on behalf of the State Government.

The mortal remains of four youth hailing from Himachal Pradesh were received by its Food Supply and Consumer Affairs Minister Kishan Kapoor, while the mortal remains of remaining seven youths belonging to West Bengal and Bihar were taken by VK Singh in another plane to Kolkata from Amritsar.

“I am sent specially by the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to share the grief of the bereaved families and it is as per his directions that I am announcing Government job as per qualification to a member of the bereaved families besides Rs five lakh cash,” said Sidhu while addressing a Press conference at the airport.

He said the Punjab Government is already providing Rs 20,000 monthly pension to these bereaved families and the Government stands with them in their hour of grief.

“I am grieved that our people have been killed on foreign soil by terrorists,” said Sidhu while making it clear that the Punjab Government, in collaboration with the Union Government, would take stringent action against the travel agents sending youths abroad by unfair means.

Also, Sidhu thanked VK Singh due to whose efforts the remains of these youths have been able to reach home.

At the same time, VK Singh appealed to the people to refrain from sending their children abroad through unfair means by playing into the hands of unscrupulous elements because the promises made by the travel agents generally don’t come to fruition.

“The Ministry of External Affairs maintained contact with the Iraqi army continuously and located the remains of these youth. After that, on the basis of the DNA reports, the families of the youth were identified leading to the mortal remains being brought to India,” he said, adding that the DNA of one Indian didn’t match fully so his remains could not be brought back home.

He said the Union Government would be in league with the State Government extend every possible assistance to the bereaved families.

The Punjab Government extended every kind of help to the parents and other family members of the youth who had come to collect the remains of their dear ones. The District Administration deployed an officer each with an ambulance under the leadership of the Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha to make sure that the remains reach the homes of the youth.

The officers completed the formalities concerning immigration and medical documents and then proceeded with the remains.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Tuesday, 03 April 2018 | PNS | Chandigarh/Amritsar