Suryanarayan killed by Taliban, body to be brought tomorrow

New Delhi, Apr 30 (UNI) In a dastardly act of terror, Indian telecom engineer, K Suryanarayan, who was kidnapped by Taliban in Southern Afghanistan on Friday, was killed by his abductors evoking strong condemnation from New Delhi.

Suryanarayan's body was found between Qalat and Ghazni this morning. The body will be brought here tomorrow and sent to Hyderabad, officials said here while confirming the killing.

The Afghan authorities have also confirmed the death of Suryanarayan.

Reports from Kandahar quoting Commander of the highway police in the southern areas, Shah Wali Haqparast, said the body of the engineer was recovered in the Hasan Karez area.

He said the head of the man had been chopped from his bullet-riddled body which is mutilated beyond recognition.

Taliban purported spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi was also quoted as saying that the engineer was killed by their guards this morning while he was trying to escape. Speaking from an undisclosed location, Ahmadi said the guards opened fire as he tried to escape from their custody.

A Reuters report from Kandahar earlier said Afghan police today found the beheaded body of the Indian telecom worker. The report quoted a police official as saying ''we found the body, beheaded, in a ditch by a road, about 10 km from where he was kidnapped.'' President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh strongly condemned the killing of Suryanarayan.

President Kalam described the killing as an ''inhuman'' act ''highly condemnable.'' The Prime Minister expressed grief and sorrow on the Taliban's ''inhuman and heinous act of killing of an innocent Indian civilian'' and asked the nation to be united in its fight against terrorism.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told a hurriedly-called press conference that based on the statement made by the Taliban and also on the report received from the site where the dead body of a person was found between Qalat and Ghazni this morning, it would appear that K Suryanarayan had ''unfortunately been killed.'' Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said by telephone that Suryanarayan had been ''shot dead'' last evening while trying to escape, the report said.

The Taliban had threatened to kill the hostage unless India withdrew all its workers from Afghanistan in 24 hours.

A pall of gloom descended on Hyderabad following the killing.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who rushed to console the family of the deceased Engineer, announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh and a suitable job to a family member.

A steady stream of friends and relatives as also leaders of various parties visited the house of the Communications Engineer with Bahrain-based Telecom company in Afghanistan and offered their condolences to Suryanarayan's widow K Majula, as she along with her two daughters Anisha and Manisha and son Satya Teja, wept lnconsolably.

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