New Delhi: The freedom of three Indians and four other hostages was secured after payment of $ one million, the Kuwaiti company employing them said and denied it had halted operations in Iraq as demanded by the abductors.

"We paid nearly $ one million in all to secure their release. The payment was made in four phases," KGL spokesperson Rana Abu-Zaineh said over phone from Kuwait soon after her company's drivers were set free by the Iraqi militant group 'Islamic Secret Army-Holders of Black Banners'.

She claimed the Indian Government, which was kept informed about the developments in the hostage crisis on a regular basis, was aware of the payment of ransom.

A major chunk of $500,000 ransom was paid towards the end while the rest was paid earlier, Zaineh said, adding recipients of ransom included the intermediaries involved in securing the release of the seven including, Antaryami, Tilak Raj and Sukhdeo Singh. She said the company could not talk about the ransom part earlier as the employees were still in captivity but can do so now.

Zaineh, however, said the Indian Government had been kept out of negotiations as part of an agreement in the beginning.

Zaineh, who had earlier insisted that KGL had "no presence" in Iraq after the abductors demanded that it withdraw from the country, said the company "continued to have operations" in Iraq.

"The only difference is that we are not sending our people or outsiders to Iraq now but hiring locals for our work in Iraq," she said.