<p>The Taliban today denied shooting dead Indian writer Sushmita Banerjee, whose murder Afghan officials blamed on the insurgent militia fighting against the government for 12 years.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 49-year-old was dragged out of her husband's house by masked gunmen in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province late Wednesday and repeatedly shot.<br /><br />Police suggested her book, an account of her escape from the Taliban two decades ago that was later turned into a hit film, may have been the reason she was killed.<br /><br />"Our investigation... indicates that the militants had grievances against her for something she had written or said in the past," provincial police chief Dawlat Khan Zadran told AFP.<br />But today a Taliban spokesman denied any involvement.<br /><br />"We reject claims that mujahideen were involved in the killing of the Indian woman. It is a propaganda by government officials to defame the mujahideen," Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP.<br />The militant group, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government since 2001, is often reluctant to claim the killings of women.<br /><br />Banerjee was married to local businessman Jaanbaz Khan and had recently moved back to live with him in Paktika, reportedly to run a health clinic for women there. Her book "Kabuliwala's Bengali Wife" was made into a Bollywood film in 2003.<br /><br />Sanjana Roy Choudhury, a publisher from Hay House India, told AFP that Banerjee was courageous.<br /><br />"In trying to live a life with her husband there, this is the price she paid. It's a brave voice that's been quietened."<br /><br />Bengali writer Samaresh Majumdar said she had risked her life by returning to Afghanistan. "It was akin to committing suicide."</p>
<p>The Taliban today denied shooting dead Indian writer Sushmita Banerjee, whose murder Afghan officials blamed on the insurgent militia fighting against the government for 12 years.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 49-year-old was dragged out of her husband's house by masked gunmen in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province late Wednesday and repeatedly shot.<br /><br />Police suggested her book, an account of her escape from the Taliban two decades ago that was later turned into a hit film, may have been the reason she was killed.<br /><br />"Our investigation... indicates that the militants had grievances against her for something she had written or said in the past," provincial police chief Dawlat Khan Zadran told AFP.<br />But today a Taliban spokesman denied any involvement.<br /><br />"We reject claims that mujahideen were involved in the killing of the Indian woman. It is a propaganda by government officials to defame the mujahideen," Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP.<br />The militant group, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government since 2001, is often reluctant to claim the killings of women.<br /><br />Banerjee was married to local businessman Jaanbaz Khan and had recently moved back to live with him in Paktika, reportedly to run a health clinic for women there. Her book "Kabuliwala's Bengali Wife" was made into a Bollywood film in 2003.<br /><br />Sanjana Roy Choudhury, a publisher from Hay House India, told AFP that Banerjee was courageous.<br /><br />"In trying to live a life with her husband there, this is the price she paid. It's a brave voice that's been quietened."<br /><br />Bengali writer Samaresh Majumdar said she had risked her life by returning to Afghanistan. "It was akin to committing suicide."</p>