By NNN-PTI
Dhaka : A Bangladeshi aid worker, who was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan nearly three months ago, has been freed.
39-year-old Nurul Islam was abducted from his office in Afghanistan’s Loger province on September 15. He was employed by the Bangladeshi Non-Government Organisation BRAC to oversee its micro-finance scheme in the war-ravaged nation.
“He is now staying at a government accommodation after his release late Friday night,” a BRAC spokesman here said today.
BRAC’s Public Affairs and Communications Director Anwarul Haq said they were expecting Islam to be handed back to Bangladesh authorities after the routine health check-up.
The development came hours after Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Spanta told his Bangladeshi counterpart Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday that the security forces had traced the location where Islam was kept and were engaging influential locals to secure his safe release.
Bangladesh had earlier sought the US assistance for release of the BRAC official.
Afghan police said they had arrested three suspects in connection with the abduction, which they called a criminal act, not related to Taliban insurgents.
Unidentified Afghan gunmen had earlier shot dead another BRAC worker Abdul Alim while he was traveling through remote northeastern Afghanistan on a motorbike.
BRAC has been operating in war-torn Afghanistan since 2002.