Admn faux pas: Two families of men killed in Iraq reach Amritsar to receive bodies

The family members of two Nawanshahr men, who were among 39 Indians killed in Iraq, reached the Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar on Wednesday morning to receive their mortal remains but had to return empty-handed due to the alleged mismanagement of two district administrations.

Kashmir Chand, paternal uncle of Parminder Kumar (36) of Jagatpur village in Nawanshahr, and Bhupinder Singh, brother of Jasbir Singh (24) from the district reached the airport at 10am.

Parminder and Jasbir were among 39 Indian workers whose bodies were found in a mass grave in Iraq. They were taken hostage by the ISIS when it overran Iraq’s second largest city Mosul in 2014.

Kashmir said soon after hearing the news of the deaths, he along with his family members reached Parminder’s house.

He said the Nawanshahr deputy commissioner (DC) and senior superintendent of police (SSP) came to meet the family late Tuesday and told them to receive Parminder’s body from the Amritsar airport next morning.

He said, “We have been waiting for more than two hours here but the airport officials informed us that they had no information about the arrival of mortal remains of those dead in Iraq. We were harassed due to the administration’s mismanagement.”

Similarly, the DC and SSP also visited Jasbir’s house and asked the family to reach the Amritsar airport to collect his body, Bhupinder said.

“The administration also provided two ambulances and sent two officers —one from police and another from the civil administration. But we came to know that my brother’s remains are not arriving,” he said.

Kashmir and Bhupinder urged the Centre to make concerted efforts to bring back the bodies of from Iraq soon.

Nawanshahr DC Kumar Amit said, “We had information that the victims’ mortal remains will be brought but it was a miscommunication between the Amritsar DC office and us.”

“We only extended a helping hand to the grieving families,” he said.