Body of slain engineer brought to Hyderabad

Hyderabad, May 1 (UNI) The body of K Suryanarayan, killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, was flown here tonight even as his wife Manjula made a suicide bid upset with another woman claiming herself to be the second wife and seeking ''justice'' for her eight-month old baby.

When the body, wrapped in the tricolour, was brought here by the Indian Airlines flight IC 839, last respects were paid by, among others, State Information Minister Mohd Ali Shabeer, Mayor T Krishna Reddy and Hyderabad District Collector Aravind Kumar.

After meeting the police to seek intervention for enabling her to attend 'her husband's' funeral, Ms Swapna, who claimed to be his second wife, said ''I am ready for a DNA test on my baby to prove Mr Suryanarayana is her father.'' Ms Swapna, holding her baby staged a sit-in protest along with her relatives in front of the house, when she was denied entry.

Earlier, Cyberabad Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sowmya Mishra said Ms Swapna could not produce any documentary evidence in support of their marriage.

In New Delhi wreaths were placed on the coffin on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on arrival from Afghanistan, by Joint Commissioner K Chiranjeevi and Resident Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh R P Agrawal.

Suryanarayana, an employee of Bahrain-based al-Moayyad Company, working on a project in Zabul in Afghanistan was kidnapped by Taliban militants on Friday last and his beheaded body was found by a police patrol yesterday in Hassan Karez area in southern Zabul province.

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