BENGALURU:
The Karnataka government on Wednesday appointed a senior IPS Officer as nodal officer to coordinate with the Central government to bring back residents of the state from Afghanistan.
‘As there is a conflict situation in Afghanistan, to bring back Indians stranded there, the central government has already started a helpline. To coordinate with the central government and bring back Kannadigas safely from there, Umesh Kumar, IPS, Additional Director General of Police CID, Bengaluru, has been appointed as nodal officer,’ an official notification said.
Stating that the officer will be coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding residents of Karnataka in Afghanistan, an official statement from the government said, a control room has been established in this regard.
Information may be sent to the following numbers and email id: 080-22094498 080-22942628, 9480800187, afghan_kar@ksp.gov.in, it said.
The information needs to be furnished are-informant name, contact number, address, relationship. Also name of persons staying in Afghanistan, their present location, occupation/purpose of visit, passport details, date of arrival in Afghanistan, it further said, adding that information may also be furnished directly to MEA.
India on Tuesday had brought back home the Indian ambassador and its staff at the embassy in Kabul in a heavy-lift military transport aircraft in view of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital, two days after its take over by the Taliban.
Earlier in the day, state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said there are 339 Afghans in Karnataka. Out of them 192 are students, and the Basavaraj Bommai administration will talk to the Centre on renewing their visas and will provide them ‘protection’. PTI
