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Grit, determination saw him through the ordeal

Jaideep Shenoy

Engineer, kidnapped in Afghanistan, returns home after 27-day nightmare

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

REUNION: Sarang Mohammad Naeem with his parents at his residence in Suralpady on Wednesday.

MANGALORE: He considers himself lucky having survived a 27-day ordeal in the tough mountainous terrain of Afghanistan.

For 39-year-old Sarang Mohammad Naeem, an electrical engineer from Gurukambla near here, kidnapped while returning to the base camp at Adraskan from Herat on April 21, coming home and being with his family members is a huge relief. He did not expect to return home alive.Mr. Naeem and his Nepali colleague Gurong Karna Bahadur were rescued by Afghani security forces in Adraskan district, 90 km South of Herat, on May 18.

He reached New Delhi on May 24 and caught up with his family in Mumbai on May 25. He reached Gurukambla on Wednesday morning.

Mr. Naeem shared his thoughts with The Hindu. Talking about Sunil Shetty, the director of HEB Logistics, the Afghan-Canadian company based in Dubai, he said:

“He is like a God-sent angel for me.” Mr. Shetty had assured his parents that he would hand him over safe and sound. “He has kept that promise.”

Only two Indians kidnapped in Afghanistan up to 2003 were released. “Those kidnapped after that period were not so lucky,” said Mr. Naeem.

He recalled telling his abductors at the height of the crisis that his fate was not in their hands, but in the hands of the almighty.

Mr. Naeem, who has travelled between Herat and Adraskan bordering Iran regularly since he went to Afghanistan, said: “I knew the road very well and it was absolutely safe till that day.”

He survived on wild fruits and grass in almost barren landscape that the kidnappers moved him for over five days from the day of kidnapping, Mr. Naeem said.

“It requires a lot of mental toughness to survive those arduous conditions. A German engineer, who was kidnapped in the region, was reported to have died within three days due to natural causes.”

A visiting card and a pen in his pocket helped Mr. Naeem keep track of the days in captivity.

“I used to mark each day in the card without the knowledge of my abductors. One of them found the card on the 18th day of captivity and tore it up. The thick Afghani nan and black tea was a luxury that the kidnappers gave us. Sometimes, we had to manage by sipping a capful of water.”

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