Many of the 39 Indians killed in Mosul shot in the head

AMRITSAR: Many of the 39 Indians killed in Iraq by Islamic State terrorists are believed to have been shot in the head.

TOI managed to see the death certificates of at least seven of the 27 slain men whose bodies were brought back to Amritsar on Monday. In all seven certificates, "bullet injury in head" was listed as the cause of death.

The certificates also say that they were killed at Wadi Agab, an industrial area of Nineveh township, about 110 kilometers from Mosul in Iraq bringing in a little more clarity to the family members on how and where the men died. The family members of the victims had been seeking these details ever since conflicting reports on whether the men were dead or alive had started appearing.

The certificates, issued by the Indian embassy at Baghdad on March 28, were signed by Umesh Yadav, assistant consular officer of the embassy. The documents, however, do not say when the men were killed. According to the relatives of the slain Indians, most of them had last called up home on June 15, 2014 and it is believed that they were killed soon far. The likely date for the killing is believed to be between June 15 and June 20.

Harjit Masih, a resident of a village in Gurdaspur, who claimed to have been with the 39 Indians and escaped, had given similar dates. However, neither Sushma Swaraj nor her deputy V K Singh are ready to believe his account.

After flying the bodies back home, Singh had told reporters at Amritsar airport that Masih was not even part of the group of 39.