A kidnapped Indian telecommunications engineer was found beheaded in southern Afghanistan on Sunday and the Taleban said they had killed him.
The man, identified by India as K. Suryanarayan, 41, was kidnapped with his driver after gunmen stopped their vehicle on Friday. Taleban insurgents said on Saturday they had taken both men and vowed to kill the Indian unless New Delhi withdrew all its workers from Afghanistan within 24 hours.
"We found the body, beheaded, in a ditch by a road, about 10 km (6 miles) from where he was kidnapped," said Mohammad Mir, a district police chief in Zabul province.
Mir said the driver's fate was unknown. Taleban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said by telephone Suryanarayan was shot dead on Saturday while trying to escape. India confirmed the killing and said it would not be swayed from supporting Afghanistan.
India has close relations with Afghanistan and is involved in numerous aid and reconstruction projects. Indian officials said on Saturday that India was committed to maintaining a presence in Afghanistan to help its economic development.
Suryanarayan's body was found near the main road between Qalat, the Zabul provincial capital, and Ghazni to the north, about 300 km (200 miles) south-west of the capital.
He appeared to have been killed on Saturday evening, Mir said. His body had been taken to Ghazni. President Hamid Karzai condemned the killing and ordered security forces to find those responsible. "The enemies of Afghanistan .... want to stop Afghanistan from developing and standing on its own feet," he said in a statement.
"WITHDRAW INDIANS": Taleban spokesman Yousuf said on Saturday Suryanarayan was a US spy and would be killed if India did not withdraw all its nationals working in Afghanistan by 6 pm (1330 GMT) on Sunday.
India said the "outrageous" demand showed the kidnappers had no intention of negotiating and had "premeditated" his killing.
"The government and people of India will never bow to such acts of terrorism and will continue their fraternal assistance to the people of Afghanistan in their endeavours to bring peace, stability and economic recovery," Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told a briefing in New Delhi.
Indian strategic affairs analyst Brahma Chellaney said the killing was a clear message to India. "The message is that India, which is a major backer of the Karzai government with huge financial aid, should get out," Chellaney said.
But he said India needed a stable and secure Afghanistan.
"Without securing Afghanistan, there can be no regional stability including future energy supplies for India," he said.
Violence and lawlessness across much of the Afghan south has crippled development, and the main task of thousands of Nato troops due soon to move into the region will be to ensure sufficient security for reconstruction.
On several occasions militants have kidnapped aid agency staff and foreign company workers, who the Taleban say support the Western-backed government.
Suryanarayan worked for Al Moayed, a Bahrain-based company. He had been contracted to work in Afghanistan for the Afghan telecommunications company Roshan.
An Indian engineer kidnapped last November while working on a road project was later found dead in the southern province of Nimroz. The Taleban said they had executed him to press their demand for withdrawal of Indian workers. India said in February it was sending up to 250 paramilitary police to Afghanistan to protect its civilians workers.