India, June 24 -- The families of three Punjab youths, who were rescued from alleged human traffickers in Iran and were stuck there, heaved a sigh of relief after they returned home safely in the early hours on Monday.

The three youths, identified as Jaspal Singh from Nawanshahr, Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur and Husanpreet Singh from Sangrur district, went missing on May 1, soon after they reached Tehran airport. However, after diplomatic intervention, the Iran police rescued them earlier this month but since then they were in police custody.

The three youths had paid hefty sums to travel agents of Hoshiarpur, Dheeraj Atwal and Kamal Atwal, to go to Australia in search of work but they were made to travel to Iran where three of them w...