Kandahar: India's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Rakesh Sood, who was in Delhi for consultations, is on his way back to Kabul on Monday night to speahead negotiations with the kidnappers of Border Roads Organisation's driver M R Kutty.
Kutty's fate hangs in the balance as the deadline given by the kidnappers to his employers, the Border Roads Organisation, elapses on Monday night.
Kutty, who belongs to Haripad in Kerala, was abducted from his car along with two guards and a driver from the Nimroz province late on Saturday.
There are 290 Indians working in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanezai confirmed the abduction, but said he did not know who the captors were.
The spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Navtej Sarna, said on Sunday: "We have seen reports that they have been abducted by the Taliban. The Afghan authorities are investigating the matter. If these reports are true, we condemn the incident and urge that all of them be released."
Sources told IBN that they have still not been able to acertain the identity of the kidnappers despite a spokesman for the Taliban claiming that they have kidnapped Kutty.
But the Ministry of External Affairs has refused to issue a statement accepting the Taliban's involvement saying that Kutty is a driver and not an engineer.
If the kidnappers turn out to be part of the Taliban, the implications for Kutty could be serious, as India does not have any direct contact with the group and the outfit has an openly anti-India stance.
PAGE_BREAK
But if it is a local criminal gang, it may not be too difficult to secure Kutty's release.
Sources have confirmed that the Afghan authorities are working hard to establish contact with the kidnappers.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been briefed about the security of the Indians in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister has expressed his concerns for the security and safety of all the persons concerned.
Cabinet secretary has formed a group of personnel from the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs and personnel from security agencies to look into the matter.
The Border Road Organisation has extended all support to Kutty's family.
This latest abduction coincides with a rise in violence, including a series of suicide attacks, in Kabul, a stronghold of the Taliban before they were ousted from power by the US-led forces in 2001.
In September, Taliban abducted and killed a Briton involved in a road project in Farah province.
India has good relations with Kabul and is involved in several reconstruction projects, on which hundreds of Indians are working.
In 2003, two Indians were kidnapped by suspected Taliban members while working on a US-funded road project and they were released unharmed after nearly three weeks in captivity.
Some 20,000 US-led troops are in Afghanistan, hunting Taliban fighters and their allies, such as Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
More than 1,100 people, mostly militants, have died in the Taliban-led insurgency in 2005 in Afghanistan.
The toll also includes almost 60 foreign troops, most of them Americans.
Comments
0 comment