The Taliban fighters, now in power in Afghanistan, are hunting for judges of the erstwhile government who had sent them into prison. 

The scared former judges have disguised themselves and gone into hiding fearing gruesome torture and a certain death.

Even though the Taliban leaders had held a press conference where they emphasised said that they would not carry out revenge attacks, they are unable to control their militants–many of who act independently.

Business Insider spoke with a number of former Afghan judges who are living in fear and on the run.

Taliban fighters have been going door-to-door hunting for former government officials, members of the former Afghan defence forces as well as judges for revenge killings. Judges are made targets for personal vengeance as they had sentenced the militants for various crimes.

Abdul, a former judge, told Business Insider from his place of hiding: "I feel hopeless, abandoned and alone. "I am in hiding. I change my location every 24 hours. Even my wife and children don't know where I am."

He was formerly a judge in the public security and anti-corruption department in Kabul.

The Taliban is being meticulous in its search for former judges.

The militants found his contact information through papers left behind in government buildings and called him up. "Yesterday, the Taliban called me two times, and they told me that we will tie your leg to a car and drive, and we will kill you".

The militants are searching everyone associated with officials of the previous Ashraf Ghani government.

Pakistan begins to deport minority Hazaras refugees back to Afghanistan

Is the Taliban thinking of creating a regular army for Afghanistan?

One of the initial acts the Taliban had committed on its offensive against the Ghani administration was to open up the jail and set the prisoners free. The former judges worry that besides the Taliban, the other prisoners also are looking for an opportunity to take revenge.

Though the US and its allies tried to evacuate Afghans friendly to them, not all could be evacuated due to the sudden fall of Kabul. Moreover, in the confusion that took over the unplanned evictions from the Kabul airport, tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans have been left behind.

It is these Afghans that the Taliban fighters are looking for, to take revenge. There has been regular news of murders as the Taliban continue to kill people they dislike or they feel were associated with the previous government.

Moreover, the Taliban government is not a homogenous group. It has its own dynamics and internal politics.

Business Insider narrates Adbul as saying: "There are three groups involved; the Doha team, the Taliban in Kandahar, and also the Haqqani network. The leadership doesn't have control over all of the networks and some of them are seeking revenge".

The Taliban has said that amputations and executions will be brought back even as it seeks to reintroduce the Sharia law. The group has begun to hang people that it considers enemies or offenders of the faith.

The Associated Press, reported earlier that the Taliban would carry out executions and amputations of hands like the previous rule. But it was not clear whether the executions would take place in public or behind closed doors. they would execute the accused in public or follow in-room justice policy. While speaking to the news agency, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, one of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh version of Sharia law, has confirmed that the mercurial group will carry out executions and amputations of hands.

"Everyone criticised us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments," Turabi told AP.