Taliban to trace kidnapped Hindu man

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 15

The Taliban have issued an order to locate an Afghan-origin Indian who was kidnapped by car-borne men in Kabul on Tuesday morning.

The local community members met officials on Wednesday and submitted a complaint after which the Taliban said their “021 unit of intelligence department'' had taken over the case of Bansri Lal Arendeh.

The identity and motive of his abductors has not been established but eyewitnesses said Bansri Lal was taken away in a vehicle type also used by the Taliban. The local Hindu and Sikh community has appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs for assistance.

Meanwhile, economic crunch and pockets of protests marked one month of Taliban rule over Afghanistan though their "caretaker government" is yet to get recognition from any country. They have not even held a swearing-in ceremony. In the Panjshir valley and Kandahar, hundreds of people protested coercion from the Taliban to leave their homes. Local media quoted several Panjshir residents as saying they saw incidents of civilian killings and people being forced out of their houses. — TNS