New Delhi: After more than two years, two Indians who had been kidnapped by the Taliban, returned home on Tuesday after their release in Afghanistan last week.
Announcing the arrival, Ministry of External Affairs issued a press note that stated, “Two Indian nationals, who were released from captivity in Afghanistan on 31 July 2020, returned to India today”.
They were part of the group of seven Indians who were kidnapped from the northern Afghan province of Baghlan on May 6, 2018. They were all employed with an Indian firm, KEC International Limited, constructing transmission lines for Afghan state-owned firm, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS).
In March 2019, MEA issued a press release saying that one of the seven Indians had been repatriated to India. There was no name in the communique, but from the names of relatives quoted in media reports, he was identified as Prakash Mahato from Jharkhand.
Also read: Amidst Official Silence, What We Know About the 3 Kidnapped Indians Freed in Afghanistan
Eight months later, three more Indians were released, in October 2019. They were identified as Kaushik and Muraleedharan from Kerala and Kali Mahato from Jharkhand. However, the MEA did not issue any public statement acknowledging their return.
At that time, several media reports, including by the New York Times, stated that that the three Indians were freed in exchange for the release of two Taliban ‘shadow governors’ of Kunar and Nirmoz provinces, Sheikh Abdul Rahim and Abdul Rashid Baloch respectively. One of them had been even been listed as a “globally designated terrorist” in 2015.
Unlike last time (October 2019), the MEA publicly announced the arrival of the Indian nationals this time. The wording of the statement, “released from captivity” was significant, as it indicated that it was a result of negotiations, rather than a ‘rescue’. They were also not officially identified, but as per sources, they are the remaining two Indians from Jharkhand, Hulas and Prasadi Mahato.
Officials stated that they were being cautious in releasing details as an Indian still remains in Taliban custody.
The circumstances of the repatriation of the two Indians are not clear, but it has taken place in the background of the ongoing Eid ceasefire between the Afghan government and Taliban who are supposed to start intra-Afghan peace talks soon.
After his return last year, Kali Mahato had spoken to The Wire from his home in Jharkhand’s Koderma district.
He had narrated that all seven of them had been kept together, with at least a dozen men guarding them. They were moved to a new location every two or three months and would often be kept in villages, as would be evident from the sounds of children nearby.
Mahato said that when they had asked their captors as to why they had been kidnapped, they had only spoken about the release of arrested Taliban leaders. “They told us that they didn’t want money. They just wanted their leaders, who were under arrest, to be free.”