To save firm, Indian workers offered to militants, say kin

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 23

Families of Iraq victims have asked the Centre to conduct a probe into the role of Baghdad-based construction company Tariq Noor Al Huda owners who seemed to have offered its Indian and Bangladeshi construction workers as “indemnity” to the militants to save the company infrastructure and its officials from them.

Speaking to The Tribune, Amritsar-based Swaran Singh, brother of Nishan Singh, who among the 39 Indians was killed in Iraq, claimed that his brother called him on June 11, 2014, and told that over a dozen militants visited the company early morning and held “secret talks” with local officials.

Later, on the same night, six of them returned and were allegedly offered two vehicles by the company and their manager accompanied the IS militants and their “abductees” to a cotton factory, 23 km away from the location.

“My brother told me that though they did not cause any damage to the company site or hurt any official, they took all Indians and the Bangladeshi workers into their custody away to an abandoned cotton factory,” alleged Swaran Singh.

He demanded a detailed probe into the role of the company “Madir”(manager), who handed over passports to all workers minutes before boarding them in the company vehicles. As told by Nishan Singh, the Madir again came the next day with food to the cotton factory, but never returned again.

Slamming the company for not issuing any condolence message, Davinder Singh, brother of Gobinder Singh, Kapurthala resident, said this clearly proved the company’s “nexus” with the IS militants and its “inhumane attitude” towards foreign nationals.

The families have urged the Centre to get the company blacklisted.

Though this correspondent called a company official on a number given in the website, he refused to talk on the issue.