An Indian author whose memoir about her dramatic escape from the Taliban became a Bollywood movie was shot dead by militants in Afghanistan , police said Thursday . Sushmita Banerjee , also known as Sushmita Bandhopadhya , was killed outside her home in Paktika province , according to Dawlat Khan Zadran , the police chief of eastern Paktika province . He said suspected Taliban insurgents broke into her house Wednesday night , blindfolded and tied up her husband , and fled with Banerjee . Her body was found Thursday , dumped outside a madrasa , or religious school , in the outskirts of Sharana city , the provincial capital . `` She had around 20 bullet holes in her body , '' Zadran said . Banerjee gained attention with her 1995 book , `` A Kabuliwala 's Bengali Wife . '' It recounts her story of marrying for love and moving to Afghanistan in 1989 to be with her husband . It traces her life in Afghanistan , her harassment by the Taliban and her eventual journey back to India . She wrote an article for India 's Outlook magazine in 1998 , about her life in Afghanistan , which she describes as tolerable until the Taliban crackdown in 1993 . `` I remember it was early that year that members of the Taliban came to our house , '' she wrote in Outlook . `` They had heard of the dispensary I was running from my house . I am not a qualified doctor . But I knew a little about common ailments , and since there was no medical help in the vicinity , I thought I could support myself and keep myself busy by dispensing medicines . The members of the Taliban who called on us were aghast that I , a woman , could be running a business establishment . They ordered me to close down the dispensary and branded me a woman of poor morals . `` They also listed out do 's and don'ts . The burkha was a necessity . Listening to the radio or playing a tape recorder was banned . Women were not allowed to go to shops . They were even prohibited from stepping out from their houses unless accompanied by their husbands . All women had to have the names of their husbands tattooed on their left hand . Virtually all interaction between men and women outside the confines of their own homes was banned . '' In 2003 , her book was made into a Bollywood film , `` Escape from Taliban . '' Bollywood movies are extremely popular in Afghanistan . Banerjee , 49 , had recently moved to Paktika province to live with her husband , Afghan businessman Jaanbaz Khan , police said . She was a health worker who helped women in an area that had very few female health professionals , police said . Banerjee could have been targeted for many reasons , including for her book , the movie , her health work , or even the fact that she was an Indian woman , Zadran said . No group has claimed responsibility for the attack . In a 2003 interview with rediff.com , a Mumbai-based website , she said she hoped her life story would make people `` aware of the conditions women in Afghanistan live under . '' `` One day , '' she added , `` I am going to go back and free them . ''
Sushmita Banerjee was kidnapped and killed in Paktika , police say . No one has claimed responsibility for her death , but police suspect militants . Banerjee wrote ` `` Escape from Taliban Taliban about her escape from the Bengali Wife '' . She also was a health worker who helped women Afghanistan province , police say .