Hyderabad: The two abducted Indian labourers would soon be released from captivity of Taliban, hopefully during next week, according to B Seenaiah, managing director, B Seenaiah & Co, employer of Murali and G Vardaiah, who were abducted in Afghanistan early this month.

"Negotiations between the Afghan Government and the abductors were on and we are optimistic of their release," Seenaiah told said today (Dec 18, 2003) without elaborating.

He said the chairman of the company, B Krishnaiah, who returned to Delhi from Kabul after attending the inaugural function of the 480-km-long road constructed with US aid, has met the Afghan authorities who assured that the abductors have been identified and negotiations were on.

Seenaiah said following abduction of its two labourers on December 6 in Qalat, the company approached the Ministry of External Affairs and also represented the matter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee through M Venkaiah Naidu, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president, who in turn took up the matter with the Afghan Government.

PTI