Punjab CM appeals for trouble-free transport of mortal remains of Iraq victims expected to arrive tomorrow

Capt. Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, has appealed to the protestors in the state carrying out state bandh on Monday for a hassle-free transportation of the mortal remains of the 39 Indians who were killed by the Islamic State in Iraq’s Mosul area that are expected to arrive on Monday in the country.

The mortal remains of the 39 Indians killed will be flown to India on Monday, said officials. The remains were handed over to the Indian authorities in Baghdad on Sunday.

The officials added that General VK Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, had left for Iraq on Sunday to bring back the mortal remains. Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit, Indian ambassador to Baghdad, said that the bodies had been taken to the Baghdad International Airport, from where they would be flown back to the Indian subcontinent on a military flight, and reach by Monday.

The required arrangements to receive the mortal remains of the 39 Indian people had been made by the Amritsar government. Kamaldeep Singh Sangha, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, on Sunday said, “All necessary arrangements have been made to transport the mortal remains of 31 Indians killed in Iraq, who hail from different places in Punjab and Himachal, to their native places when the bodies reach tomorrow.”

Sangha told PTI, “As per the information we have received, the bodies are expected to reach the international airport at Amritsar at around 1:30 pm tomorrow.”

As per the schedule given by the officials, the military flight carrying the mortal remains and headed by Gen VK Singh, will first reach Amritsar, followed by Patna and then Kolkata to hand over the remains to the families/relatives of the 39 Indians.

Also Read: MoS VK Singh leaves for Iraq to bring back mortal remains of 38 Indians

Sangha had conducted a meeting with various stake-holders who will be involved in the process of the smooth handling of the whole work of handing over the mortal remains to the families. He said, “Those who took part in the meeting included director of the Amritsar international airport, officials of the customs, immigration, CISF, police, IAF and bureau of civil aviation.”

Sangha added that necessary arrangements for ambulances and other vehicles to ferry the coffins to the native places have been made by the respective district administrations in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh with all important assistance extended by the authorities in Amritsar.

The Dalit organisations have called for a countrywide strike on Monday in protest against the Supreme Court’s verdict of March 20 to safeguard public from random arrests under the SC/ST Act. A circular said, “All educational institutions to remain closed and mobile Internet services to be suspended in the state tomorrow in the wake of bandh called by several Dalit organisations against the amendment under the SC/ST Act.”

The Supreme Court took the decision after taking a note of a petition filed by the Maharashtra government.