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Abducted Indian engineer shot

      New Delhi: The abducted Indian engineer, K Suryanarayan, has reportedly been killed by Afganistan's rebel Taliban outfit. According to news channel's report, Suryanarayan was shot dead by his abductors while he was trying to escape. The body of the Indian engineer was found lying on a road in Kandahar on Sunday morning. However, the Ministry of External Affairs is yet to confirm the death and said in an official release that they were aware that the dead body of a person was in Afghanistan, between Qalat and Ghazni and a team was sent to the location to verify the identity of the body. "The Indian engineer was in a room with one guard, he attacked the guard and punched him, went out of the building running as other mujahedin shot him dead," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi was quoted as saying in TV reports. The Hyderbad-based engineer, who was working as a contractor for Afghan mobile telephone network, was abducted on Friday in Zabul province on the main highway linking the capital Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar, birthplace of the Taliban movement.

     The militants had earlier issued a deadline for all Indians in Afghanistan to leave the country by 7 p.m. (IST) today, failing which they would execute the engineer. Following this the Government of India on Saturday dispatched an official team led by Joint Secretary, External Affairs Ministry, KBS Katoch to Afghanistan to assist the Indian Embassy in Kabul, in dealing with the situation arising out of the kidnapping of Indian engineer K Suryanarayan. The killing of Suryanarayan is the third incident in the last four months wherein an Indian has been targeted in Afghanistan. The Taliban abducted Maniappan R Kutty, a Border Road Organization jawan and engaged in building of Zaranj-Delaram highway, four months ago. Three days after Kutty's kidnapping, his body was found in Kandahar province. In February this year, Indian engineer Bharath Kunmar, working with a Turkish firm, was killed in a bomb blast in Farah province. Indian doctors working in various hospitals in Afghanistan have also received threats from the Taliban, ousted from power in 2002. New Delhi has taken up the issue of security of all Indians working in Afghanistan with Kabul at the highest level. The matter was also discussed when Afghan President Hamid Karzai when he visited Delhi earlier this month.

Govt confirms engineer is dead (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Government of Indian confirmed today that the abducted Indian engineer, K Suryanarayan, was killed by Afghanistan's rebel Taliban outfit while he was trying to escape. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran confirmed this after a meeting of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) here today. "The Government of India is appalled by this dastardly and inhuman act of terror on the part of the Taliban and its sponsors, which has resulted in the tragic and untimely death of an innocent Indian citizen, who, like many of our other compatriots, had been making a contribution to Afghanistan's reconstruction with dedication and diligence" he said. Saran said that Suryanarayan had been killed even before the MEA team arrived in Kabul this morning, which indicated that it was a premeditated killing. "It is obvious that the kidnappers were not interested in negotiating for his release but had premeditated his killing. The outrageous demand that all Indians should leave Afghanistan within 24 hours testifies to the real motivation behind this act of terror," he said. He further went on to say that the Taliban was a terror group and should be recognised as such by the international community, including Pakistan.

    Suryanarayan, whose body was found lying on a road in Kandahar on Sunday morning, was shot dead by his abductors while he was trying to flee. Emphasising that the Government and people of India would never bow to such acts of terrorism, Saran said that India would continue its fraternal assistance to the people of Afghanistan in their endeavours to bring peace, stability and economic recovery to their country ravaged by years of conflict. On the security of the Indians working in Afghanistan, Saran said that several measures had been taken in the past few months to increase the level of security for Indian nationals working on Indian Government-aided projects there. "The Government of India regards Taliban a terrorist organization and calls upon the international community to recognize its true colours and join hands together to defeat this scourge to humanity," he said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the killing as an act of terrorism. Expressing grief and sorrow on the Taliban's inhuman and heinous act of killing of an innocent Indian civilian, Singh asked the nation to be united in its fight against terrorism. The Prime Minister also talked to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekara Reddy and asked him to convey his sympathy and condolence to the wife of the deceased.