3 Punjabi youth rescued from traffickers in Iran return home, kin relieved
The families of three Punjab youths, who were rescued from alleged human traffickers in Iran and were stuck there, heaved a sigh of relief after they returned home safely in the early hours on Monday. Hushanpreet Singh, who hails from Dhuri in Sangrur, shared his nearly two-month-long ordeal. 'Now, I feel safe sitting in my house with my family,' he said. His mother, Balwinder Kaur, and grandmother thanked both the Centre and the Iran government for facilitating the safe return of their son. (HT Photo)
The three youths, identified as Jaspal Singh from Nawanshahr, Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur and Husanpreet Singh from Sangrur district, went missing on May 1, soon after they reached Tehran airport. However, after diplomatic intervention, the Iran police rescued them earlier this month but since then they were in police custody.
The three youths had paid hefty sums to travel agents of Hoshiarpur, Dheeraj Atwal and Kamal Atwal, to go to Australia in search of work but they were made to travel to Iran where three of them were abducted on May 1 by human traffickers who demanded ransom from their families.The travel agents are still at large.
Hushanpreet Singh, who hails from Dhuri in Sangrur, shared his nearly two-month-long ordeal. 'Now, I feel safe sitting in my house with my family,' he said.
Hushanpreet shared the nightmare that started from the day the trio fell into the trap of the travel agents. He said, 'They were known to my uncle through a friend and offered me a work permit for Australia.'
'After repeated cancellations of Australian flight tickets, the agent finally issued tickets for April 30, leading us to land in Iran on May 1 and what was supposed to be a brief stopover in Iran quickly extended,' he said.
'We were reluctant to leave the airport initially, but the agent on the pretext of sending us to a hotel took us to a village in Tehran where we were beaten up mercilessly,' he said. He said they quickly realised they had been kidnapped.
The kidnappers, identified primarily as Pakistanis with one Iranian, subjected them to daily torture.
'Initially they demanded ₹2 crore, then ₹1 crore, then they settled at ₹54 lakh from all of us,' Hushanpreet said.
He shared that even after his family managed to send ₹1 lakh, the kidnappers denied its receipt. He also claimed to have witnessed the plight of 10 other Pakistani abductees during his captivity.
His mother, Balwinder Kaur, and grandmother thanked both the Centre and the Iran government for facilitating the safe return of their son.
Gurdeep Kaur, the mother of Amritpal Singh of Hoshiarpur's Bhagowal village, said it was his son's second birth as the abductors had threatened to kill him and the other two youth accompanying him, if they did not get the ransom amount.
Amritpal was not allowed to speak to the media. The family said he was under stress and needed rest. His uncle and village sarpanch Gurdev Singh revealed that he had travelled on a provisional passport as his original passport was torn off by the abductors.
'He told us that the Iran police treated them well and they were made to stay in a hotel till all formalities were complete. Thanks to the Indian and Iranian governments that our wards have reached home safely,' he said.
Hailing from Langroya village of the SBS Nagar district, Jaspal's brother Ashok Kumar said the entire family is relieved and joyous at the same time after seeing Jaspal back home and reunited with his family.
'We are thankful to the Government of India and the ministry of external affairs for making concerted efforts for the release of the youths abducted in Iran,' he said.
'Jaspal has been taking rest as he is mentally and physically exhausted due to the traumatic experience,' he said.
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