Family mystery unfolds as body arrives

On Friday last, when K Suryanarayan was leaving for Kabul in a private taxi, he received a call from the security agency, hired by his company, warning against travelling alone in the strife-torn area.

On Friday last, when K Suryanarayan was leaving for Kabul in a private taxi, he received a call from the security agency, hired by his company, warning against travelling alone in the strife-torn area. An hour later, he was abducted along with the taxi driver on the highway near Qatel to Ghazni in Zabul province and later beheaded. He was 41.

His body today arrived at the IGI Airport from Kabul by Indian Airlines flight IC 844 and after a brief stopover, was flown to Hyderabad. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Prime Minister of India and the Andhra Pradesh Government. The only belongings that accompanied the body were a locket bearing Lord Hanuman’s picture, a golden bracelet and a watch.

Officials of the Almoayed group of companies, for which Suryanarayan worked, said it still remained a mystery why he, who himself was responsible for the security needs of the other employees, chose to ignore the warning. ‘‘Though we have a good security apparatus there, this incident means that we tie the loose ends,’’ said V P Ajan, president of the group.

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Ajan told he Indian Express, ‘‘I interviewed him when he was hired. After working at various locations of our company in Bahrain and Maldives, he went to Afghanistan in December last. Maybe he got used to the threat perception any did not take precaution.’’ Suryanarayan had stayed in Afghanistan for over two years.

Ajan denied that torture marks were found on the body. He said one of the drivers, an Afghan national, of the two cars, by which Suryanarayan left on the fateful day, was still missing.