The Hindu : National : Suryanarayana may have disregarded security drill

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

National

National

Suryanarayana may have disregarded security drill

Did not take security personnel with him

New Delhi: K. Suryanarayana, the engineer who was abducted and killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, may have disregarded the normal security drill, resulting in the fatal incident, his employer company said on Tuesday as it began a thorough investigation into the matter.

"We provide adequate security to all our employees because of which no such incident has taken place during the last three years of our operations in Afghanistan," M. Wajihuddin, General Manager and spokesman of Almoyed, told PTI over phone from the company's headquarters in Bahrain.

"As per the drill of our company, no employee is supposed to go anywhere without adequate number of security personnel escorting him," he said.

It appears that Suryanarayana, in his zeal to finish his work, did not take the adequate number of security personnel provided by the company when he went out of office, he said.

He said Suryanarayana was aware of the need for taking security precautions in view of the risks involved, as he had been in Afghanistan for last three years, about two years prior to joining Almoayed.

The engineer had left the office at around 6 p.m. local time. The Taliban said it abducted him along with his driver on a highway in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan sometime later.

Mr. Wajiuddin said the company had taken the matter seriously and had launched an internal inquiry.

PTI

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