Outsourcing agency on Afghan passports with Indian visas was raided post Taliban takeover

New Delhi, Aug 27 (UNI) In the days following the Taliban takeover of Kabul on August 15, “groups of people” had access to or raided one of the outsourcing agencies where Afghan passports with Indian visas were stored, leading to loss of some passports, the government clarified on Friday.

Referring to the report of an Afghan woman MP who claimed she was deported from New Delhi airport on August 20, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that after the loss of Afghan passports with Indian visas on them the Indian authorities were on high alert, and later introduced the e-emergency visas system for Afghan nationals.
“Look at the circumstances on what happened. Once the security situation deteriorated immediately after August 15, there were reports of groups of people who had access to or who raided one of our outsourcing agencies where the Afghan passports with Indian visas were there,” he said.

“So in the light of the loss of Afghan passports containing Indian visas our authorities were in a state of high alert. We were also moving to the e- emergency visa system.

“It appears that all this could have led to some confusion which in turn led to the unfortunate incident of the denial of entry to a particular Afghan national,” he added.
He said that since then many Afghan citizens have been evacuated to India and an e-emergency visa for Afghan nationals is now operational.

An Afghan woman MP Rangina Kargar has claimed that she was deported from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on August 20.

Rangina Kargar, who represents the Faryab province in Afghanistan, flew in India from Istanbul. Her return ticket was on August 22 to Istanbul. However, she was not allowed to step out of immigration and was later sent back to Istanbul via Dubai on the same airline, reports said.