Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj shocked the Parliament and the people alike by stating in the Upper House yesterday that 39 Indians, who had been held as hostages by militants in Iraq, had been eliminated by terrorists. “DNA samples of 38 of the 39 abducted persons matched with the dead bodies found beneath a mound in Iraq,” she said, shocking the MPs.

“We have concrete information that the 39 Indians, who had been missing for the past four years and were believed to be in the custody of suspected ISIS militants, are dead. The Govt. was waiting for solid proof to reveal that they are no more,” Sushma, who met the relatives and friends of the hostages last year, told the Rajya Sabha.

“All but one among the 39 bodies found beneath a mound in Mosul and Badush (after their liberation from ISIS) matched with the DNA samples,” Sushma told the House.  Congress MPs exploded in anger stating that the BJP-led Centre had been giving ‘false hopes’ to the friends and families of the hostages instead of presenting the real picture. “Centre has also misled the nation on this count,” they said in unison.

“It was difficult to identify the piled-up bodies and take them to Baghdad to conduct DNA tests,” Sushma said appreciating the work of Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh. Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad interrupted to remind the Minister that she had assured the families of the hostages last year that they were alive; Sushma responded by stating that she didn’t mislead anyone and only told the truth.

The killed Indians were mostly construction workers from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar and West Bengal who were caught by ISIS in 2014 when they were about to leave Mosul.