Back
to Headlines
Compensation
of no use: Slain engineer's wife
Hyderabad:
Even as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy today
announced a compensation of rupees five lakh to the wife of
Suryanarayan, the Indian engineer who was on Sunday killed
by the Taliban in Afghanistan, his wife Manjula said the money
would be of no use now, since her husband was dead. She said
the government had failed to bring her husband back alive,
and no amount of compensation could fill his void. Reddy today
also promised to give a job to Manjula. The Andhra Chief Minister
made this announcement after paying a visit to the bereaved
family to pay his condolences. Suryanarayan's Bahraini company,
Al Moayed, has also announced a compensation package of rupees
20 lakh for the family. Suryanarayan is survived by his wife
and three children.
Meanwhile,
President APJ Abdul Kalam today expressed his sympathy to
the bereaved family and condemned the killing. "Such an act
is highly condemnable," said President Kalam. Earlier in the
morning, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh condemned the killing,
terming it as an act of terrorism. He asked the nation to
be united in its fight against terrorism. "The Prime Minister
has condemned the Taliban's inhuman act of killing an innocent
Indian civilian," said the Prime Minister's Media Advisor
Sanjaya Baru. Elsewhere, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has
asked the government to be more vigilant of its nationals
working in Afghanistan. In a statement issued here, the VHP
said the Congress led UPA government ignored when the Taliban
abducted and subsequently killed MR Kutty, a Border Roads
Organisation (BRO) official working on the Delaram-Zaranj
highway project in the war torn country. "Now the UPA ignored
Suryanarayan also. It is the government's duty to explain
it," the statement said.
Hyderabad
saddened as Suryanarayan is killed
Hyderabad:
A pall of gloom hung heavy in Hyderabad on Sunday as the
news of the killing of the abducted Indian engineer K. Suryanarayan
by Taliban militia spread in the city. Expressing shock and
serious concern over the unfortunate incident, residents of
Hyderabad said that unless someone made the militants understand
the virtue of humanity, the problems would not be solved.
"What enmity could someone have? I really feel bad. They should
understand what humanity is all about. Until and unless a
person understands humanity, problem will not be solved,"
said Ahmed, a local. Ravi, a college student, said there should
be an international law to end such sad incidents. "We go
to foreign places and we work for them and we get killed.
I think it's ridiculous and our Government should take some
action regarding this and they should implement some laws
to remove these types of actions," said Ravi.
Raman
Kutty, father of a truck driver who was executed by Taliban
rebels in Afghanistan in November last year, said that the
Government should make efforts to ensure the safety of Indian
citizens working in Afghanistan. "Government should take some
steps so that all others who are working there should feel
safe," said Kutty at his native village in Harippad. The 41-year-old
engineer was kidnapped with his driver after gunmen stopped
their vehicle on a road in Zabul province on Friday. Taliban
insurgents said on Saturday they took both men and vowed to
kill Suryanarayan unless India withdrew all its workers from
Afghanistan in 24 hours. However, the decapitated body of
Suryanarayan was found in southern Afghanistan on Saunday
morning, even before a team of the Ministry if External Affairs
arrived in Kabul for talks. Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad
Yousuf said over telephone, that Suryanarayan was shot dead
on Saturday evening while he was trying to escape. Earlier,
Yousuf has said that Suryanarayan was a US spy and he would
be killed if India did not withdraw all of its nationals working
in Afghanistan by 6 p.m. (1330 GMT) on Sunday. Violence and
lawlessness across much of the south Afghan has crippled development,
and the main task of thousands of NATO troops due soon to
move into the region will be to ensure sufficient security
for reconstruction. Militants have kidnapped aid agency staff
and foreign company workers, who the Taliban say are supporting
the Western-backed Government. India has close relations with
Afghanistan and is involved in numerous aid and reconstruction
projects. Indian officials said on Saturday India was committed
to maintaining a presence in Afghanistan to help work on economic
development.
Karzai condolences to Suryanarayan's
family
Kabul/Hyderabad:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday condemned the
killing of K Suryanarayan, the Indian engineer who was abducted
and subsequently killed by the Taliban and ordered security
forces to find the persons responsible for the gruesome act.
Suryanarayan, a telecommunications engineer, was found beheaded
in southern Afghanistan on Sunday and the Taliban said they
had killed him. Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said
by telephone that Suryanarayan was shot dead on Saturday while
trying to escape. Later his beheaded body was found near the
main road between Qalat, the Zabul provincial capital, and
Ghazni to the north, about 300 km (200 miles) southwest of
Kabul. India confirmed the killing and said it would not be
swayed from supporting Afghanistan. Karzai offered his condolences
to the grieving family, who on Saturday had appealed for Suryanarayan's
safe release. "These killings will not stop India, Afghanistan
and the international community from moving forward towards
development and we are committed in what we are doing. We
express our condolences to the family of the victim and Afghanistan
is sharing this moment of sorrow with them," Karzai said in
Kabul. Forty-one-year old Suryanarayan was kidnapped along
with his driver after gunmen stopped their vehicle on Friday.
Taliban insurgents said on Saturday they had taken both men
and vowed to kill Suryanarayan unless New Delhi withdrew all
its workers from Afghanistan within 24 hours.