— Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

APPEAL TO CAPTORS: Manjula, wife of K. Suryanarayana, a telecom engineer who was kidnapped by the Talibans in Kandahar, appeals to his captors in Hyderabad on Saturday to release him. His children and another family member are also seen.

HYDERABAD: While the fate of the Indian engineer abducted by the Taliban in Afghanistan on Friday hangs in the balance, his family living in the bustling suburb of Malkajgiri in Hyderabad plunged into despair.

Forty-one-year-old K. Suryanarayana, a resident of East Anandbagh in Malkajgiri, left home just four months ago and was working as a project engineer in Bahrain-based Al Moayed Telecom Company. The company deputed him to Kandahar where it was implementing a project for Roshan Telecom, an Afghan mobile telephone service provider.

A shaken Suryanarayana's father, Chandrasekhar, made a fervent plea to the captors for securing the release of his son. "I urge the Taliban to release my son without harming him in view of the poor health condition of my wife Anantha Laxmi, who has been bedridden for the last few months," he said. Mr. Suryanarayana's wife Manjula, daughters Manisha and Anusha and son Satya Teja wept inconsolably.

His family came to know about the incident through the media on Friday morning.

The Hyderabad Regional Passport Officer B. Balabhaskar on Saturday afternoon visited the engineer's house and assured the family members that the Union Ministry of External Affairs was holding discussions with the Afghanistan Government for the safe release of Mr. Suryanarayana. "The Ministry is taking all the measures for securing his release," he told mediapersons.

After completing his mechanical engineering from Hubli in Karnataka, Mr. Suryanarayana joined the Tata Teleservices in the city where he worked for five years.

Ravi, Mr. Suryanarayana's roommate in Afghanistan who came to the city from Afghanistan just a week ago, was shocked to hear that his friend had been kidnapped. "I am trying to coordinate with the company officials in Kandahar. Please do not disturb us and try to cooperate with us as negotiations are on with kidnappers," an agitated Mr. Ravi said, evading the posse of media personnel.

Earlier kidnappings

The Taliban had earlier kidnapped two youth hailing from Nellore district — Murali, a roller operator and Vardarai, hot mix operator — in December 2003. They were among 300 Indians recruited by Hyderabad-based B. Seenaiah and Company and its partner C&C Constructions to work on the Kabul-Kandahar road project.

Among the Indians were nearly 130 people from Andhra Pradesh. Luckily, the duo was released after a month in captivity.

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