Family of Punjab’s Nawanshahr man in agony as he is held hostage in Iran

Jaspal Singh, a 32-year-old from Langroya village in Nawanshahr, is one of the three youths who were allegedly kidnapped in Iran. Jaspal wanted to go abroad for a better future and had approached a travel agent in Hoshiarpur who promised to send him to Australia. With great difficulty, the family arranged Rs 18 lakh and gave it to the agent. Jaspal has two kids, one aged 3 years and the younger one just 3 months old.

Ashok Kumar, Jaspal’s elder brother, said that Jaspal first landed in Dubai and was made to stay there in a room for a month. “After that, he was taken to Iran, and the moment he landed there, he was kidnapped,” he said. At 2 am on the intervening night of May 1 and 2, a call from Jaspal turned the lives of the family members upside down.

“On May 1 at 2 am, we got a call from Jaspal. He asked us all to remain awake and then he cut the call. We were terrified. At 3 am, we got another call, where he told us that he, along with others, had been kidnapped and that if we wanted his safety, we would have to pay Rs 18 lakh more,” Ashok Kumar added.

The brother shared that for about 15 days, they kept receiving video calls where they could see Jaspal being brutally beaten and shouting in pain, asking for money. “We had already registered a complaint by then,” he said. The family members said that for the last 14 days, they hadn’t heard anything regarding Jaspal. “We don’t know whether he’s fine or not,” Ashok said.