Kidnapped Indian aid worker located in Afghanistan

Father Alexis Prem Kumar Antonysamy, who was abducted in Afghanistan, has been traced to the Gulran district of Herat province.

The kidnappers have made no ransom demand yet.

Forty seven-year old Kumar, country director of Jesuit Refugee Service, was kidnapped on Monday by unidentified armed men when he was on a visit to a Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)-supported school for Afghan refugee children from Iran and Pakistan.

The JRS has suspended its operations.

Kumar hailed from Devakottai in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, and has been in Afghanistan since 2011.

Quoting Afghan police, government sources said "six gunmen" had abducted Kumar and may have taken him to Gulran district.

Though nobody was coming here on record and in the absence of any hostage policy, it has been left to Afghan authorities to work with "district elders" to mediate Kumar's release. The mediation efforts are being supervised by the Indian Consulate.

The Indian consul general in Herat has been in touch with local authorities. Sources said foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has been personally monitoring the case.

Experts here agree that India's inability to deal firmly with the hostage crisis and absence of any policy is a big nightmare.