7 Indians abducted in Afghanistan’s Baghlan

aliban leader Shaheen abducted seven Indians and their Afghan driver on Sunday, said the Baghlan Police Spokesman Zabihullah Shuja to India Today. They were employees of an Indian power/infrastructure company, KEC, with projects in Baghlan province of Afghanistan.

We have not been able to establish any direct contact to start negotiations but we are making efforts to establish contact through local leaders and elders to secure their release. For now what we have learnt is that they are safe and healthy, said Zabihullal.

He also said that the area where the Indians were picked up from has significant presence of the Taliban. The entire area falls under Shaheens control and is the reason why they are zeroing in on kidnap this group.

Late Sunday evening, the MD and CEO of KEC Internaitonal, Vimal Kejriwal issued a statement regarding the sensitive nature of the situation and requested everyone to exercise caution.

"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.

According to reports, the entire crew of seven Indians and one Afghan driver, was traveling to the area where the company owns an electricity sub-station when the incident took place. They were around Bagh-e-Shamal village of the Pul-e-Khomre city.

Sources in Afghanistan have told India Today that the authorities are in touch with the concerned departments and KEC officials to ascertain details of what happened.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar issued an official statement saying that the MEA and the Indian mission are in touch with the Afghan authorities. 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, he said.

For now, nobody has officially claimed responsibility.

Baghlan governor Abdul Hai Naimati spoke to local media saying that they are in touch with the Taliban via local leaders and elders of the community.

According to media reports, Baghlan governor Abdul Hai Naimati was quoted as saying that the terror group said it had abducted the staff members in error, believing they were government employees.

In 2016, 40-year-old Indian aid worker, Judith DSouza, who worked for the Aga Khan Foundation, was abducted on 9 June and released after 40 days.