Lashkar-e-Taeba hand likely in abduction of Indian priest in Herat

NEW DELHI: Proscribed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taeba (LeT) that allegedly carried out an attack on the Indian consulate in Herat last month is suspected to be behind the abduction of Jesuit priest Alexis Prem Kumar, an Indian who has been engaged in social work in the province.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction that occurred on Monday afternoon but the needle of suspicion points to LeT, which has made inroads into Afghanistan’s Herat province bordering Iran.

The Minsitry of External Affairs has begun efforts to trace Alexis with the help of Afghan police. Alexis who is from Tamil Nadu, is working with an educational charity in Afghanistan.

This is the first such case of abduction of an Indian national since November 2005, when Ramankutty Maniyappan, a 36-year-old driver working with the BRO on the Zaranj-Delaram highway project, was taken hostage and beheaded.

In 2003, two engineers working on a road project were abducted, but later released.

On Monday External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the Foreign Secretary.

Indian government sources told ET that the abduction appears to be the handiwork of LeT. They, however, do not rule out the possibility of involvement of Taliban. The abduction followed several intelligence inputs on threats to Indian interests, the sources said.

A government official confirmed to ET the role of LeT. Incidentally former NSA Shivshankar Menon briefed the PM last Friday on the Afghan situation and threats to Indian interests as US-led troops withdraw from the country.

The threat to Indian interests in Afghanistan can emerge as the first big foreign policy challenge for the Modi government. Sources alleged that Pakistan’s ISI has become more active in Afghanistan of late.

The gameplan, sources claimed, is to have friends in the next regime in Afghanistan to counter Indian influence in Afghanistan post withdrawal of American troops from the country.