7 Indians abducted in Afghanistan, MEA in touch with local authorities

Smita Sharma

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 6

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has confirmed abduction of seven Indian nationals from northern Baghlan province in Afghanistan early Sunday morning. The men, as per unconfirmed reports, were travelling in a mini-bus when they were taken hostage by unidentified armed assailants near Bagh-e-Shamal village, in Pul-e-Khomre city, capital of Baghlan province.

While no group has taken responsibility so far for the abduction, local Baghlan authorities were quoted by international news agencies as blaming the Taliban for the incident. 

Responding to media queries, Raveesh Kumar, MEA spokesperson, said, "We are aware of the abduction of Indian nationals from Baghlan province in Afghanistan. We are in contact with the Afghan authorities and further details are being ascertained."

The abducted Indians are engineers working for KEC, an Indian company with the RPG group that was awarded a contract in 2013 to erect a 220 KV transmission line between Chimtala and Kabul. 

KEC collaborates with government-run Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) that operates power generating stations in the war-torn country. Harsh Goenka, Chairman of the RPG group reached out to Minister Sushma Swaraj on social media seeking help for rescue of the Indian men. Goenka wrote on twitter, "Request @SushmaSwaraj and Ministry of External Affairs to help rescue 7 of our managers from the kidnapping in Afghanistan. #KEC."

Request and Ministry of External Affairs to help rescue 7 of our managers from the kidnapping in Afghanistan.

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka)

"We are very concerned and the matter is being looked at by the MEA at the highest level. In the interest of safety of our people and the sensitive nature of the situation on ground, we will not be commenting any further. We want to assure everyone concerned that we are working with the authorities to ensure safe return of our employees," said Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO, KEC International.

With its over $2 billion assistance towards rebuilding of Afghanistan, India is involved in several infrastructure projects building dams, highways and other buildings. An estimated 150 Indian engineers and technical experts are involved in various projects on the ground. 

Afghan media house Tolo News quoted Baghlan governor Abdulhai Nemati saying the Indians were mistaken to be government employees and efforts are on to release them "through tribe elders and mediation". Sources also meanwhile asked the media to exercise caution in reporting so as not to "hamper efforts at successful resolution of the crisis".

The kidnappings take place at a time when a series of terror strikes and blasts have led to bleeding of Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan over the past few days. There have been instances of Indians getting kidnapped in Afghanistan in the past in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2008, with release of hostages secured in most cases. In 2016, an Indian aid worker kidnapped in Kabul was released after 40 days.