Kidnapped Indian driver's family seeks his release

The family of Border Roads Organisation driver Maniappan R Kutty, who the Taliban kidnapped in Afghanistan, has approached the Congress seeking his speedy release.

Kutty, a native of Harippad in Alappuzha was kidnapped on Sunday along with three Afghans from the site of a highway construction project they were working at.

Maniappan's elder brother, Haridas, on Monday spoke to Kerala Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala.

Chennithala assured him that he had taken up the matter with the prime minister's private secretary and the external affairs secretary.

"They have promised that the needful was being done to ensure his safe return," Chennithala said.

Maniappan, who had gone to Afghanistan on November 8, visited his relatives in Kerala few months ago.