DHAKA: Several families of 40 Indian construction workers abducted in strife-torn northern Iraq say they have spoken with the men, whose captors claim they will be freed unharmed.

Reports said Thursday, according to The Straits Times.

India’s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that the 40 workers had been abducted in recent days in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which Sunni militants have overrun in a deadly ongoing insurgency.

The ministry said no demands for ransom had been made and the workers’ whereabouts, along with who was responsible for the abductions, were not known.

But Charanjit Singh said his brother called him on Wednesday ‘for a couple of minutes’ to tell him the workers were safe and that their captors had claimed they would be released if someone from the government made contact.

BDST: 1323 HRS, JUNE 19, 2014