Ludhiana, August 14, 2025 – Six Indian nationals, including four from Punjab and two from Himachal Pradesh, safely landed at IGI Airport, New Delhi on Thursday after enduring months of hardship in Iraq. Their return was made possible through the intervention of Punjab Cabinet Minister for Industry & Commerce, Investment Promotion and NRI Affairs, Sanjeev Arora, who coordinated closely with the Union Ministry of External Affairs and the Punjab Government.
The returnees have been identified as Sorav from Tarn Taran, Gurpreet Singh from Chaunta village in Ludhiana, Sanjeev Kumar and Abhilash Kumar from Sherpur Bahtian in Hoshiarpur, Tara Chand from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, and Charanjeet Swami, also from Mandi. They had been living in distressing conditions abroad, with reports stating that they had not received salaries for four months and were facing mistreatment by their employers.
Arora had escalated the matter to Union External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, urging immediate action, and also sent repeated communications to the Indian Embassy in Iraq to expedite the process. Grateful to be home, the individuals expressed their heartfelt thanks to Arora and the Punjab Government for their decisive intervention.
This marks the second successful repatriation in less than a week. On August 8, four other Punjabis Gurpreet Singh, Surjeet Singh, Amarjit Singh, and Avtar Singh had also been brought back from Iraq under similar circumstances through Arora’s efforts.
“The safety and dignity of every Indian, no matter where they are in the world, is our foremost priority,” said Arora, adding that the Punjab Government will continue to stand firmly with its people in times of crisis.
