Hyderabad: K Elangovan, Principal Secretary to the Kerala government on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, requesting a safe evacuation of around 41 Keralites stranded in Afghanistan. The state government said that women and children have been stranded in Taliban-controlled Kabul and requested the Centre to make necessary arrangements for their safe evacuation to India. It was CM Pinarayi Vijayan who had instructed the Principal Secretary and the NORKA CEO Harikrishnan Namboothiri to take necessary action in this regard.
The Department of Non Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA), a state government led welfare agency has been receiving several frantic calls from the relatives of those stranded, it was in this context that the government sent letters to the External Affairs Ministry seeking immediate steps for their repatriation.
Read: Indians stranded in Kabul Airport and Gurudwara seek Govt assistance
As per reports, messages received by the state government had even stated that the terror outfit was verifying the identity of those Indians who are stranded and that their passports and other crucial documents are being taken away.