Acting on Delhi's call, Iran rescues 3 Indians

India worked closely with the Iranian government to secure the release of three Indians who were allegedly abducted by a Pakistani gang from the southern part of Tehran last month.

The release of the missing Indians was announced by the Iranian embassy in Delhi late Tuesday night, following hectic diplomatic engagements between India and Iran on the issue.

It was suspected that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) would have showcased the kidnapped Indians as "spies" working in Pakistan, said people familiar with the matter.


The families of the three Indians, who went missing in Iran, had received ransom calls from Pakistani phone numbers, raising suspicion of ISI's hand in the incident, ET had reported last week.

The three Indians, who went missing in Iran on May 1 after landing in Tehran, were identified as Hushanpreet Singh, from Punjab's Sangrur district, Jaspal Singh from SBS Nagar and Amritpal Singh, from Hoshiarpur district.

An agent in Punjab had promised the three men to send them to Australia via the Dubai-Iran route. The Indian government is also probing whether the agent had any links with the Pakistan government, according to the people. The agent from Hoshiarpur who sent the men to Iran is reportedly missing.

"Family members of 3 Indian citizens have informed the Embassy of India that their relatives are missing after having travelled to Iran. The Embassy has strongly taken up this matter with the Iranian authorities, and requested that the missing Indians should be urgently traced and their safety should be ensured," the Indian Embassy in Iran had recently said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Iran urged Indians to apply caution while travelling to other countries and not fall prey to illegal agencies. This is the second case of Indians who went missing in Iran over the past one year.