Arman Bik, one of Ahmad Eshchi’s sons, on Wednesday said his father, the former governor of Jawzjan, was beaten up by First Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum’s guards for not having kissed the hand of the high-ranking official.

Arman claims he was also beaten by Dostum’s men.

 “I was with my father when Dostum’s man came and said Dostum wants him to go to him. My father spoke with him (Dostum) for five minutes and then they argued with each other. Then Dostum’s men beat my father, me and my cousin. Then they took my father away with them,” he said.

The Eshchi-family called on the National Unity Government (NUG) leaders to probe the matter and said he should be prosecuted in accordance with the law if found to have committed a crime.

Residents of Sheberghan, the provincial capital, said they want the issue to be cleared up.

“A man is threatened, insulted, beaten and kidnapped. But government is silent,” said Abdul Rahman, a resident of Sheberghan city.

“We are worried about the situation - that a person is jailed in a civilian house,” said Abdul Mansour, another resident of Sheberghan.

People in Kabul also reacted to the Dostum-Eshchi story.

“When the first vice president violates the law, then possibly the country will slip into a crisis,” said Najib Kabuli, head of the National Participation Front (NPF) party. 

Dostum’s guards allegedly beat up Eshchi almost two weeks ago. Unconfirmed reports indicated the guards then took Eshchi into custody. However, confusion still surrounds the issue as Eshchi’s whereabouts are still unknown.