M A I N   N E W S

315 from Punjab, Haryana, HP stuck
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

State-wise break-up The Punjab Government on Friday submitted a report of 201 Punjabis stuck in Iraq to the External Affairs Ministry With more cases of those from Haryana stranded in Iraq being reported, the number swelled to 92 Reports from Himachal Pradesh said about 25 persons, mainly from the Kangra and Mandi region, were stranded in Iraq

Chandigarh, June 20
As many as 315 persons from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are listed as stranded in the trouble-torn Iraq. Control rooms set up by the three state governments have recorded this number till evening.

The Punjab Government today submitted a detailed report of 201 Punjabis stuck in Iraq to the External Affairs Ministry. Ten Punjabis from Iraq also rang up today at the control room and gave details about their locations.

With more cases of those from Haryana stranded in Iraq being reported during the day, the number swelled to 92. The cases were reported at the control room set up by Haryana at the secretariat.

Reports from Hiamchal Pardesh said about 25 persons, mainly from the Kangra and Mandi region, were stranded in Iraq.

There is no report of loss of life of any Indian citizen so far. Phone numbers of most of the stranded youths were working and they were able to speak to their relatives back home. Country-wide figures from New Delhi state that about 10,000 Indians were there in Iraq. Out of these, 120 were said to be in the conflict zone and 18 among them were missing.

Tota Singh, Punjab NRI Affairs Minister, said that Punjabis in Iraq were safe but the Central Government should arrange for their safe exit as soon as possible because conditions in Iraq were worsening by the day.

The minister said that Punjabis who contacted control room from Iraq informed that they were safe but wanted to return to India.

The latest figures say that 22 persons were from Gurdaspur, seven from Nawanshahr, 29 from Jalandhar, six from Patiala, 13 from Hoshiarpur, 28 from Kapurthala, nine from Ludhiana, three from Barnala, 34 from Ropar, five from Pathankot, 12 from

Fatehgarh Sahib, 23 from Amritsar, five from SAS Nagar and one each from Bathinda, Moga and Tarn Taran district were in Iraq.

According to information received at the control room, 24 residents from Yamunanagar, 20 from Ambala, 23 from Kurukshetra, 17 from Karnal, four from Kaithal and one each from Bhiwani, Mahendergarh, Sirsa and Rohtak are among the Indians working in Iraq. Similarly, other families, too, are awaiting news of their kin.

Director General, Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Haryana, Sudhir Rajpal, said if required, the state government would bear the expenditure of bringing the people of Haryana back to India.

He said the state government had so far had not got any information from the Union Ministry of External Affairs regarding any person of Haryana among the Indians in custody of militants.

(With inputs from Geetanjali Gayatri and Pratibha Chauhan)