Kidnapped in Iraq: 'I Could Hear Bombs As He Spoke', says Frantic Wife

Chandigarh: Balwant Singh could be barely heard over the sound of explosions when he spoke to his wife last week from Iraq.

"He said his ears were numb with the sound of bombing and firing," Gyan Kaur said, wiping her tears.

Singh, who has worked in Iraq for four years, is among some 40 Indians kidnapped in Mosul, which fell to Sunni insurgents earlier this month. ('The Call Was Cut Off, Now His Phone Keeps Ringing')

His wife says in January, he talked about returning home and had been promised a visa. When he spoke to his wife on June 13, the conversation was chilling.

"He said there is constant bombing and shelling around. Then I heard a loud blast...he said a building had collapsed near him and there was a fire. I kept holding, waiting for him to speak but could hear bombing. Then the call got disconnected," said Mrs Kaur.

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After two days of silence, she called her husband again on Sunday, to learn that he had been taken captive.

"He said the army had run away. Fighting was on and he had been taken and locked up in a room. It was a factory," she said, adding, "I asked him, was he safe? Was he getting food? He said so far they were giving them food."

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In moments, the call got disconnected and since then, Balwant's phone keeps ringing, without any response.

Gyan Kaur and many others worried relatives in Iraq are heading to Delhi to meet Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj today.

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"We are doing everything a government needs to do. We are making all efforts to secure the release of the kidnapped Indians," Ms Swaraj said.

About 100 Indian workers are trapped in areas overrun by the Al Qaeda-inspired insurgent group ISIS. The government said on Wednesday that no ransom calls had been received so far.

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ISIS fighters, who aim to establish a Muslim caliphate across the Iraqi-Syrian frontier, launched their revolt by seizing Mosul, and swept through the Tigris valley towards Baghdad.