Indian aid worker remains untraceable
Judith D’Souza, 40, working with the Aga Khan Foundation, an NGO, was kidnapped on Thursday.
KABUL/ KOLKATA: Afghanistan and India on Saturday continued their efforts to secure the release of an abducted Indian woman aid worker but her whereabouts remain unknown.
Judith D’Souza, 40, working with Aga Khan Foundation, an NGO, was kidnapped on Thursday night while she was returning home after a dinner at a friend’s place in the Qala-e-Fatullah area of Kabul.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction but it is feared that she may have been kidnapped by a criminal gang in Kabul motivated by ransom, according to Afghan officials.
Abductions for ransom in Afghanistan are common and criminal gangs have made millions of dollars from kidnapping foreign nationals.
Such crimes by criminal cartels raise fears that hostages may be sold to Islamists who complicate their freedom by raising demands for ransom as well as for securing the release of jailed terrorists.
But the Indian authorities are not ruling out the kidnapping of the Indian aid worker by the Taliban or its allied fighters. They said there was no fresh update about D’Souza but efforts were on to secure her release.
Her worried family in Kolkata said they have been in touch with the authorities in India and Afghanistan.
“As of now efforts are being made at various levels within the governments of India and Afghanistan,” her brother Jerome D’Souza tweeted.
Afghan media reports said the government had left all channels of communication open to hear from suspected kidnappers but did not provide details.
“Afghan officials have said they are doing everything possible to secure the early release of the woman,” TOLO News reported.
Sympathisers and well-wishers have appealed to the governments of both countries on social media networking pages for Judith’s swift and safe release with #bringbackjudith.
An online petition was also launched at change.org for the release of the “Indian development worker... who went (to Afghanistan) to serve humanity.