CHINGOLI: Maniappan R Kutty (35) left New Delhi for Afghanistan on November 8, the day he was supposed to join his family in this tiny village 44km south of Alappuzha in Kerala.
Ten days later, the family’s disappointment turned to horror when an officer from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) called to say that Maniappan had been abducted.
Taliban rebels, who are holding Maniappan and three Afghans, have threatened to execute him unless the BRO pulls out of the country within 48 hours.
Maniappan’s family, consisting of father, mother, wife, and two sons, is not alone in its hour of trauma. With hope battling despair, relatives and neighbours have camped in their three-room house ever since news of the abduction came in on Sunday evening, monitoring the television and attending to phone calls.
Maniappan’s mother and wife are inconsolable. The last time Bindu received a call from her husband was on November 10, as soon as he reached Afghanistan.
Now she hardly speaks even to her children.
Ajay (7) knows something is wrong. "Father called from Afghanistan. He told me to study well," he says. Akshay (2) is crying constantly, annoyed by his mother's silence.
Maniappan had been working for the BRO in Meghalaya as a truck driver since September 9, 1994. He came home seven months ago with jaundice. His father, Ramankutty, hangs on to the assurances given by BRO officials in New Delhi and Meghalaya. "An officer called up twice," he said. "He said they have left aside all other assignments to track Maniappan. There is nothing to fear."
In an adjacent room, Moni cries for her son. Someone tries to console her: "Just now they were showing him (his photograph) on TV. In half an hour they will show him again. There's nothing to worry."
Under a blue tarpaulin in the courtyard, neighbours keep an eye on the TV set for any information on Maniappan. Ajay and Akshay, suffocated by the grief inside the house, join them.
Maniappan is the family's sole earning member. His house is situated 7km from National Highway 47, accessible only by a narrow footpath. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy visited the family in the evening. He has sent letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed urging them to save the hostage.
Maniappan's family has had a long association with the General Reserve Engineering Force of the BRO. His cousins, L Ravikumar and A Pushpakumar, serve in Jammu & Kashmir and Assam, respectively. His maternal uncle, K Krishnankutty, returned home on October 2 after 38 years of service with the GREF. Another uncle, K Anandanm, was also with the GREF.
Now, all of them wait anxiously as the clock ticks away.
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