Iraq crisis: Abducted Indians' kin rush to Delhi

Thirty-year-old Sonu was his family's only beacon of hope. Steeped in deep poverty, the family based in Amritsar could barely manage to make ends meet. It was this tough situation that prompted Sonu to leave India and seek greener pastures in West Asia about 11 months ago. That was when he chanced upon some work in Iraq.

However, the dream of pulling the family out of poverty soon soured when Sonu's mother Jeeto, 60, got one final phone call from her son.

"Sonu had called us on Sunday, saying that trouble had been brewing. He kept saying something about military deployment and a general lack of safety. Yet, he also said that there was danger to his life and that people were being randomly taken away by armed military personnel," said a teary-eyed Jeeto.

Sonu was one of the 40 workers to have been taken into captivity by militants in violence-torn Iraq.

Today, his family has pooled in whatever they had to come to the Capital and knock on all possible doors to gain access to any information that could assure them of their son's safety.

Like Sonu, 24-year-old Manjinder Singh also left home 11 months back in search of employment-income from which could provide three meals to his family.

"Manjinder called on Sunday saying that there was some looming threat, but they were being taken care of and their safety was in good hands. He did not tell us about the full extent of the conflict and later we heard from news reports that he was one of those missing," said Sahib Singh, Manjinder's uncle.

Days after the hapless families got the ominous calls, they are running from one governmental platform to another with just their sons' photographs, seeking their safety.

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, along with Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, met the families on Thursday and reassured them.

"We are doing everything possible to ensure their safe return," Swaraj said after meeting the families of the captive workers.