"They forced us to drink each other's urine."
Three Punjabi men have spoken out about the brutal ordeal they endured after being kidnapped in Iran.
Jaspal Singh, Amritpal Singh and Husanpreet Singh were on their way to Australia via Tehran when they were abducted, tortured and held for ransom.
They were rescued on June 1 by Iranian intelligence police following intervention by the Indian Embassy.
The men had spent over three weeks in captivity. Their ordeal ended with their evacuation to India as part of ‘Operation Sindh’.
Jaspal Singh said: “We arrived in Iran on May 1. We were told that we would have a 6-7 hour layover at Tehran airport and had to stay inside the airport.
“But the intermediary later said that we would have to stay for a day and a half.”
Jaspal had left India on April 1. He was told there would be a month-long stay in Tehran before heading to Australia.
He added: “I arrived in Iran between 8 am and 9 am. Hussanpreet and Amritpal Singh arrived around 2:30 pm.
“Our broker asked for photos and we sent them. He then sent our numbers and photos to another Pakistani broker.
“We were told that the Pakistani would come to pick us up. We were told that our ticket to Sydney was via Dubai.”
The men were collected from the airport by a man who put them into a car. After an hour, they were split up and placed in separate vehicles.
Jaspal continued: “Our phones were taken away. They asked us for the dollars and euros we had, and when we refused, they beat us severely.
“They took our clothes off and attacked us with belts and knives.
“They beat us severely. They stripped us naked, beat us with belts, and stabbed us. They forced us to drink each other’s urine.”
The torture lasted between 10 and 12 days.
Jaspal said: “They gave us some pills and moved us to another house. At the second house, they gave us food and told us to take a bath and change our clothes.”
He added that the traffickers refused to let them contact their families. Instead, they lied to relatives and claimed the men were dead.
“They took off our clothes and tied our mouths. They filmed us bleeding and sent it to our families and asked them for money, but our families refused to pay until we were handed over to them.
“But the kidnappers wouldn’t budge. They tortured us with chicken skewers and rolling pins and twisted our fingers with pliers and beat our feet with sticks.”
Jaspal claimed his family eventually paid Rs. 100,000 (£850) to the kidnappers, who broke their promise and did not release him.
He said: “There were over 10 Pakistani men in custody, some of whom too had paid the ransom.”
It was only after intervention from Iranian authorities that the men were freed.
Jaspal added: “Because of us, the Pakistanis were also saved.
“They took us to the police station and interrogated us. They asked each one of us how we got here.”
Husanpreet Singh’s story mirrored Jaspal’s. His original flight ticket was booked for April 22 but was cancelled. It was rebooked twice before he finally travelled on April 30.
He also arrived in Iran on May 1.
Like Jaspal, he was promised a short stopover.
He said: “The broker told me I was being put up at the Mina Hotel in Tehran.
“Initially, they demanded Rs. 2 crore (£170,000) from my family for my release, then they reduced it to Rs. 1 crore (£85,000), and finally they agreed for Rs. 54 lakh (£46,000) from the families of all three of us.”
He claimed most of the kidnappers were Pakistani nationals:
“They spoke Pakistani Punjabi. There was also an Iranian among them.
“I have knife wounds in eight places on my body, and they rarely gave us anything to eat or drink.
“The Pakistanis were also tortured. Four of them paid the ransom but weren’t still released.”
Husanpreet thanked the Indian Embassy officials and Iranian agents for their role in securing the rescue.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not yet released an official statement on the incident.
All three men are now back in India and receiving medical and psychological support.
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