Reports from Kandahar quoting Commander of the highway police in the southern areas, Shah Wali Haqparast, said the body of the engineer was recovered in Hasan Karez.
NEW DELHI: The Indian telecom engineer, K Suryanarayan, who was kidnapped by Taliban in Southern Afghanistan on Friday, was killed by his abductors evoking strong reaction from New Delhi which asked the international community to join hands to defeat this ''scourge to humanity.''
Suryanarayan's body was found between Qalat and Ghazni on Sunday morning.
The Afghan authorities confirmed the death of Suryanarayan.
Reports from Kandahar quoting Commander of the highway police in the southern areas, Shah Wali Haqparast, said the body of the engineer was recovered in Hasan Karez.
He said the head of the man had been chopped from his bullet-riddled body that is mutilated beyond recognition.
Taliban purported spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi was also quoted as saying that the engineer was killed by their guards in the morning while he was trying to escape. Speaking from an undisclosed location, Ahmadi said the guards opened fire as he tried to escape from their custody.
A Reuters report from Kandahar earlier said Afghan police found the beheaded body of the Indian telecom worker. The report quoted a police official as saying ''we found the body, beheaded, in a ditch by a road, about 10 km from where he was kidnapped.''
President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the killing of Suryanarayan.
Kalam described the killing as an ''inhuman'' act ''highly condemnable.''
The prime minister expressed grief and sorrow on the Taliban's ''inhuman and heinous act of killing of an innocent Indian civilian'' and asked the nation to be united in its fight against terrorism.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told a hurriedly-called press conference that based on the statement made by the Taliban and also on the report received from the site where the dead body of a person was found between Qalat and Ghazni this morning, it would appear that Suryanarayan had ''unfortunately been killed.''
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said by telephone that Suryanarayan had been ''shot dead'' last evening while trying to escape, the report said.
The Taliban had threatened to kill the hostage unless India withdrew all its workers from Afghanistan in 24 hours.
Expressing shock and disbelief at the killing, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy said his government would do everything within its means to help the bereaved family.
"We made every effort to secure his safe release but it seems that we have failed. We will help the family in whatever way we can," he told reporters.
Earlier in the day, the family members of Suryanarayana met him and urged him to take up the matter with the Centre and ensure safe release of the hostage.
Reddy said he spoke to Prime Minister Singh and conveyed the concerns over the safety of the 41-year-old engineer.
The government announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family and a job to the wife of the Indian engineer.
Prime Minister Singh telephoned Reddy and asked him to convey his condolence to the bereaved family.
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