Kidnapped Indian in Afghanistan is a Mangalorean
 
Deccan Herald 
 
New Delhi, Apr 23: In yet another instance of targeting Indian nationals working in Afghanistan, suspected Taliban militants have abducted Sarang Mohammad Naeem, who, according to diplomatic sources in Kabul, hails from Mangalore.
 
Naeem and a Nepali national were working in Afghanistan’s south-western province of Herat for a Dubai-based Afghan-Canadian private company. The Dubai-based company in turn was executing a sub-contracted work for an American firm.

Naeem and his Nepali colleague were travelling in a taxi to Adraskan close to the Afghan border with Iran late on Monday night when suspected Taliban men abducted them along with their Afghan taxi driver. The Afghan Interior Ministry, in a statement in Kabul, was quoted as saying that its national police’s initial finding was that the “Taliban have abducted these people”.

Ministry version

Late on Tuesday evening, the External Affairs Ministry said the the abducted Indian national was “Sarang Mohammad Naeem” but did not provide any further details about his identity.

However, when contacted from here, diplomatic sources in Kabul said that Naeem hailed from Mangalore in Karnataka. It was not clear if Naeem was recruited by his company in India or in Dubai where it’s headquartered.

There were suggestions though that the private company might have employed him in Dubai. They were apparently involved in providing logistics like supply of food to the employees of the American firm working on a contract job in Herat province.

The latest abduction, which came just 10 days after the death of two Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO) men in a suicide attack on the convoy they were travelling in by suspected Taliban men.

In the April 12 suicide attack five other BRO men were also injured. The External Affairs Ministry, in a brief statement, also said that the Afghan government was investigating the matter. It said that the abducted persons remained untraced until late Tuesday evening.

Reports from Afghanistan said that the abductors had freed the Afghan driver whose identity too has not been known. Apparently, the freed driver was being questioned by the Afghan authorities.

Though the Taliban has been resorting to abductions and armed attacks in a bid to force the Indian government to withdraw all its nationals involved in reconstruction activities in Afghanistan, Delhi has  rejected the demand.
 

Read Earlier Report:

Indian Working for Dubai Based Firm Kidnapped in Afghanistan