Harjit Masih: The 40th Indian who escaped Mosul and claimed ISIS 'killed all 39 men' in Iraq

 After the confirmation of the 39 Indian workers killed by ISIS in Iraq's Mosul, the nation is hit by the storm of grief. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that the 39 Indians have been confirmed dead after verification of their DNAs, in Rajya Sabha.

However, There were total 40 men abducted by ISIS in Iraq, but the one man among them was able to escape from the site. The man named, Harjit Masih, managed to run from the site, and after his return claimed that all the 39 Indians were killed by the ISIS in the Islamic country.

However, government disbelieves Masih's escape story as he was in the custody of security agencies for three months. Masih hails from a village near Punjab's Batala, claimed he was among the 40 abducted Indian and he saw all the 39 being shot dead.

Masih was arrested for offences including human trafficking and cheating in March 2017, along with his relative, Rajbir Masih on the direction of MEA. After a missing complaint was filed from the family 9 out of the Indian's abducted in Iraq, Masih was arrested.

The families alleged that they had paid Masih and Rajbir amount from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for visas and jobs abroad.

How Harjit Masih escaped from ISIS:

-As per Masih had claimed, he and his fellow construction workers were abducted on June 11, 2014, by ISIS while they were trying to escape ahead of massive terror siege on Mosul, Iraq.

-According to him, the kidnapper took them to an unknown location from a factory. He said, four days after the kidnapping all the Indians were asked to kneel down by the ISIS near a railway track. "Moments later the assault rifles went off. One by one the men dropped dead," he is quoted as saying.

-Further, he added, that he was shot in his right thigh and fell unconscious covered with the bodies. After a day, he regained consciousness and survived by pretending to be dead until the terrorists left.

-He said, he was drenched with blood and shocked, he managed to rush towards the road and reached an Iraqi Army checkpoint in Erbil, from where he was picked up by the Indian embassy.

-He survived a massacre with a group of Bangladesh colleagues as pretending himself as Muslim name 'Ali' from Bangladesh and was found by Indian officials at Erbil, EAM stated.

MoS EAM, General VK Singh, will go to Iraq to bring back mortal remains of all the Indians.

Also read: Death of 39 Indians in Iraq: Amarinder Singh shattered; 'Will we play politics even on people's death?' asks Swaraj