As soon as the abduction ofSuryanarayan took place, the Government of India left no stone unturned to seekhis safe release. A crisis management team was convened by the Cabinet Secretaryto monitor developments on a continuing basis and work out urgent measures todeal with the crisis. The Prime Minister personally followed developments inthis regard. A team led by a senior MEA official, and including experts inhandling hostage situations, was promptly dispatched to Afghanistan, to assistour Embassy in Kabul to deal with the situation. We had been in constantcommunication with the Afghan authorities, with the international securityforces deployed in the Zabul area and with our network of contacts in thecountry, to make every effort possible to bring this unfortunate incident to asatisfactory conclusion. However, Suryanarayan was brutally murdered even beforethe MEA team landed in Kabul this morning. It is obvious that the kidnapperswere not interested in negotiating for his release but had premeditated hiskilling. The outrageous demand that all Indians should leave Afghanistan within24 hours testifies to the real motivation behind this act of terror.