New Delhi
22 April 2008
By NEENA GOPAL in Bangalore and RAMESH RAMACHANDRAN in New Delhi
Armed gunmen on Monday abducted an Indian national
from Herat province of Afghanistan. Sarang Mohammad Naeem, who works for a private
company, and another unidentified man were abducted as they were travelling in a taxi
to the district of Adraskan, bordering Iran.
Naeem's abduction is the third incident this year of attacks involving Indians in
Afghanistan. It comes less than a fortnight after suicide bombers blew themselves up in
Nimroz province, killing two Indians, both Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel,
and injuring five other Indians and two Afghans.
New Delhi has expressed concern over the incident. "We have received with concern
reports that an Indian national Mr Sarang Mohammad Naeem working with a private
company in Afghanistan was abducted in Herat Province last night," read a statement
issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
"The Afghan government authorities are investigating the matter but he (Sarang
Mohammad Naeem) remains untraced till now. We are keeping a close watch on further
developments concerning this incident," the statement added. The Indian Embassy in
Kabul is monitoring the situation.
A Ministry of External Affairs source said the gunmen had neither demanded a ransom
nor threatened to kill Naeem, who was not directly working for a Government of India
reconstruction project in war-torn Afghanistan. The second unidentified abductee is
reported to be a Nepalese national.
Naeem hails from Mangalore in Karnataka. An official from the Indian Embassy in Kabul
said the Embassy was still trying to ascertain Naeem's address and speak to the
members of his family. For its part, Mangalore Police said it had not heard from the
Ministry of External Affairs so far.
Naeem is employed by Dubai-based HEB International Logistics, which is contracted by
EOD Technology Inc of the United States. An AFP report said Naeem is a logistics officer
in charge of purchasing while the Nepalese national worked on food supply for the
Afghan police training camps.
The AFP report quoted Mr Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, a police spokesman for western
Afghanistan, as saying the pair had called police on Monday and said: "We're in
trouble." "After we sent our police to the area, they had gone missing. We found their
vehicle abandoned," Mr Ahmadi said.
The AFP report also quoted Mr Sayed Ibrar Hashimi, a representative of the American
company, as saying the Afghan driver had since been freed. Police are questioning the
driver. No group has claimed responsibility so far but various reports suggested the duo
could have been abducted by the Taliban.
Naeem's abduction is the latest in a series of incidents targeted at Indians. On April 12,
2008, two suicide bombers blew themselves up near Minar town in Nimroz province of
Afghanistan, killing BRO personnel MP Singh and C Govindaswamy and injuring five
other Indian workers.
On January 3, 2008, a suicide bomber ambushed a BRO convoy, killing Manoj Kumar
Singh and Desha Singh of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. In 2006, a telecom engineer
Suryanarayana was abducted and shot dead by the Taliban. In 2005, the Taliban
abducted and killed a BRO driver Maniappan Raman Kutty.
Taliban has been opposed to India's engagement in development and reconstruction
work in Afghanistan and have issued threats in the past. India, which has committed over
$ 850 million for reconstruction work, is the fifth largest bilateral donor in Afghanistan
after the US, Britain, Japan and Germany.
About 400 BRO personnel are engaged in construction of the 218-kilometre road from
Zaranj to Delaram to facilitate movement of goods and commodities from Afghanistan to
Iranian border. It is being built as part of India's assistance programme for
reconstruction of Afghanistan.
New Delhi has often said its determination to continue to work with the Afghan people
and government for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan and the well-
being of the Afghan people. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon reiterated New Delhi's
position most recently on April 19, when he told the India Global Forum here: "Our
commitment is quite clear .... We have presence all over Afghanistan, almost 4,000
Indians working there."
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