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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today condemned the killing of author Sushmita Banerjee in Afghanistan and said an initiative was taken to bring her body back to Kolkata.
Stating that she was "shocked" with the incident, the chief minister said a letter had been sent to the External Affairs Ministry urging it to take steps to bring the body of the slain author back to the city.
She said the Trinamool Congress MPs had raised the matter in Parliament yesterday.
The author's brother Gopal Banerjee called on the chief minister at the state secretariat during the day.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy earlier told PTI that Gopal Banerjee met him during the day after hearing that the state government had moved the Ministry officials so that his sister's mortal remains were brought back to the city.
The deceased's brother had told PTI yesterday that the family had contacted the External Affairs Ministry pleading that the body be brought to Kolkata.
Sushmita Banerjee, whose memoir about her dramatic escape from the clutches of Taliban was turned into a Bollywood film 'Escape from Taliban' in 2003, was killed outside her home in eastern Paktika province on September 4 by the militants.
She was married to Afghan businessman Jaanbaz Khan and recently moved back to Afghanistan to live with him.
